Final Fantasy VII  New World Crisis
by cloudsword
Summary: It finally happened. Cloud's world is destroyed and the life stream comes to Earth.  Now Cloud must teach a new hero to take his place and save the world.  Based off of a dream I had.  Parring New Cloud/New Yuffie. and others.  READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!
1. Chapter 1  Old World's End

**Final Fantasy VII - New World Crisis**

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Final Fantasy VII characters or any Final Fantasy VII rights. That would be Square. This story is purely fictional and based off of a dream I had. Enjoy!

**Chapter 1 – Old World End**

Fire. That was all. The scorching heat, the smell of smoke thick in the air, the sweat as it rolled down their faces. Two swordsmen continued to spar as the flames got higher. One with blond spiky hair, the other long and silver. Both in black clothes, the blond having a slightly open zip up sleeveless shirt and long black pants, on his left side hung a half apron and a shoulder guard on his left shoulder. The silver haired man simply wore a long black trench coat and black pants with long black buckled up boots. Each fighting for a different reason, each wielding a sword of their choice. In the blonde's hands was a giant sword that looked to be made of many other smaller swords. The other had an extremely long katana. As the fight came to a pause the man with the silver hair spoke. "It's over Cloud. The planet is dyeing and your friends have abandoned you. There is no hope, even if you defeat me I will just reappear on the new world **I** have chosen."

"What makes you think **you** get to choose the next planet, Sephiroth?" Cloud stated. Sephiroth only chuckled and lowered his eyes as he spread his one and only black angel wing. "I will guide the life stream to a new world where I will be reborn to rule as I should." Cloud, intrigued by Sephiroth's words asked, "And where is that?" Sephiroth opened his green glowing eyes and a look of craze and insanity was seen behind them. "Earth." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I won't let you." Cloud said his blue mako eyes glowing with fury, and charged at the mad man. Sephiroth simply flew away and engulfed himself in the surrounding fire, laughing. Cloud looked down as if depressed and said mostly to himself, "I wasn't abandoned, I just…" Then from the other side of the fires he heard a panicking female voice call his name. "CLOUD, CLOUD WHERE ARE YOU?" He recognized the voice immediately. "Tiffa" he gasped. Then he heard it. Another girl's voice. One he knew very well. One that sounded both kind and wise. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright." Almost immediately he relaxed, as if to agree with her. "Every one's waiting for you, Cloud. Go find her." The voice stated. Cloud just nods and starts to walk.

Tiffa was a woman who was greatly endowed, blessed with great beauty and long flowing black hair. Being fit not just slim she also was versed in martial arts, which she displayed on various fire creatures. Alongside her was a much younger girl, shorter in stature that many would consider not as pretty, she was also petit. However she was incredibly fast as she fought using ninjitsu and a giant 4-point shuriken. Both were breathing heavily as they stood back to back. The younger girl spoke first. "Tiffa, I don't know if we can hold out much longer." Tiffa was troubled; she knew her friend was right. "Well Yuffie, It was nice knowing you." Yuffie tuned slightly to say, "Hey, don't say it like that. You're supposed to encourage us." Just as she said that, a large fiery Minotaur emerged in front of her. "I'm sorry Yuffie. I've got almost nothing left." Tiffa stated not seeing the hulking beast behind her. Yuffie gulped and readied herself to take the blow from the creature. As it raised its fist into the air it had a look of blood-lust on its face. Just before it could strike, Yuffie closed her eyes and thought she heard a sliding metal sound. When the blow never came, she peeked out of her right eye only to see it fall in half. Slightly confused she opened both eyes fully only to see Cloud standing there with his sword out in front of him.

"CLOUD" she screamed in pure joy. As Tiffa turned to see him, Yuffie ran up to him, grabbed him around the neck and gave him a friendly kiss on the cheek. She made it wet and loud on purpose just to see him squirm. As he remained silent, he looked toward Tiffa only to see her laughing silently at his expense. Shaking off his embarrassment, Cloud finally spoke up. "You guys are still here?" Tiffa was the first to respond, "You didn't think we would abandon you, did you?" "You're our friend!" Yuffie finished than added, "Come on Cid and the others are waiting for us at the Sherra 2." Cloud only nodded to her then looked ahead in the direction they needed to go. All he could see was fire as high as a mountain. Tiffa also saw what he saw and asked, "How do we get over there Cloud?" He gently pushed Yuffie aside and while drawing his sword, walked up to the flames with a determination unseen by others, and said, "The old fashion way." At that his body and sword were enveloped in a blue flame as he pushed past all of his limits. The mako fire traveled and focused into his sword and Cloud than swung his sword out to the right with both arms spread wide open, bringing his sword and arm around to point to the left then swinging his arm back to the right and pointing the swords tip toward the ground, and finally pointing the sword strait up into the sky while focusing the power into the tip of the blade. Carefully bringing the sword to curve behind his back, and putting all his strength into this move, he swung his sword around as if he were swinging a baseball bat. The resulting energy release created a tornado that was so powerful the flames parted and revealed a path almost instantly. "Let's mosey." said the swordsman.

"Dang, Where are they?" a large dark skinned man sighed. He was quite tall and muscular, with a broad face sporting a goatee and a mechanical lower right arm. His mesh shirt and tan vest did little to hide his muscles. By his side was a little 10 year old girl who had brown hair up in a braided tail. "Don't worry dad. They'll be here with Cloud." she said having total confidence. "Thanks Marline." said the large man with a smile. "Cloud must have defeated Sephiroth. He always does. Right Densel?" said Marline looking to a boy with spiky brown hair no more than two years older than her. He gave a smile and a big nod to her. A red wolf-like creature with a small humanoid cat sitting on its back walked up from behind the boy. "You kids are very inspiring. Right Red XIII?" said the cat to the wolf. "They truly are Cait Sith." He said. "Stop woryin' Barret. They're probably almost here. Cause damnit if they aint I'm takin' off without them." said the blond man at the helm. "Cid! No swearing in front of the children." said the brown haired woman sporting a lab coat and glasses standing next to him. "Well Shera, they're gonna learn it somewhere." Almost out of nowhere a man in a red cape and black leather suite appeared. His right arm was armored in a brass arm guard and hiss feet had pointed brass shoes attached to them. His skin was a pale white and his long uncombed hair was a raven black color. "They're on their way." He said with a gruff voice. "How the hell do you know, Vincent?" Cid shot off. His question was answered when Cloud entered through a side door followed by Tiffa then Yuffie. "Cause he met us at the door." Yuffie called. "Rotten #$% brat." Cid said under his breath. "What was that?" she asked in a huff. Shera gave him a look that would have scared Bahamut out of his scales. "Shera won't let me say." he retorted. "That's what I thought" Yuffie retorted. "Let's go, head north to the Forgotten City. We'll meet her there." Cloud interrupted. Tiffa was curious as to what Cloud was talking about, so she asked, "Her who?" "Aerith." was Cloud's only answer.

The Forgotten City was a place of mystery and beauty. With giant sea shell homes and coral ferns, the place looked as if it should have been under water. Everything spoke of wisdom even if it was run down and deserted. Cloud and the group gathered here at the entrance to the city. "Well where is she?" Yuffie asked impatiently. Ignoring her outburst, Tiffa looked around at the place. She had only been here a few times, one of which was the time she witnessed Sephiroth kill Aerith in cold blood. "She's at her grave isn't she Cloud?" Cloud's only answer was a silent nod and he started walking away toward the far east of the city. No more than 15 minutes into their travels, and the scenery started to change, the houses were completely destroyed and again fire was spreading, but only in small amounts this time. "What the hell?" Cid called out. Barrett decided to add his two cents in with, "What monster could do this kind of damage?" "It looks fairly recent." Vincent observed. Everyone was on full alert, ready to take on anything that might pop out and attack. When something did come out it was not what they expected. The monster was large, easily twice Barrett's height and colorful as if all 5 colors of materia had hovered above it than melted onto it all at once. It had a rough humanoid shape and moved almost like a zombie would. Its eyes were actually green orbs that might have resembled materia if it weren't for the red pupils that moved around wildly within them. It also looked to have no mouth. As it spotted the group of travelers its eyes focused and stopped moving to point right at them. "Whaoit'sabigugly THING!" Yuffie said as fast as she could. "Thanks kid that helps a lot." Berret retorted sarcastically. Suddenly the thing's mouth appeared, slowly, as if paint were being separated. Then a loud roar could be heard coming from the slit in its face. A roar powerful enough to put out the surrounding fires. "I got this." Cloud said. "Why do you get to kill it? I want to kill it!" Yuffie complained. "OK." Cloud simply exclaimed. "Hey wait I did mean…" Yuffie began to say. Tiffa interrupted her in a sing song voice saying, "It just might have you stolen materia." "OOH!" Yuffie huffed in anger. (a little known fact about Yuffie, she can be obsessed with materia) As Yuffie charged in head first the others joined in as backup. Cloud however stayed behind to protect the children. As his friends fought he could hear her again. That same voice that held kindness and wisdom. The voice of Aerith. "Come on Cloud, come and find me. Everyone is waiting to see you." Cloud began to look around and find the path, so much in fact that he missed the entire battle that his friends went through. "Nope no materia." he heard Yuffie say. "Sorry for getting your hopes up Yuffie." Tiffa responded. "That's ok. You'll just have to wait and see what prank I pull to get you back." The young ninja said with a wicked smile on her face. Cloud spoke up to end the spat before it turned into a fight, "Pranks will have to wait. Right now we go this way. We're almost there."

As they approached their destination they could see it, the giant hermit crab shell house with a hole in the ceiling you could fly the Highwind through. But the most prominent part was the small lake in front of it. It was here six years ago that Aerith was laid to rest, left to sleep silently forever at the bottom. Cloud remembered her clearly, that long brown hair braided down her back, that pink dress and maroon coat, her innocent baby like face. It was almost as if she were standing right in front of him. "Come on Cloud. Everyone wants to meet their older brother." She said. He reached out to take her hand.

Outside his friends watched as Cloud disappeared into a light of mako. "What's going on?" Yuffie called out. Suddenly Barret did the same thing while holding onto Marline. Both disappeared walking forward as if going somewhere. Vincent looked to Cait Sith and Red XIII then walked with them and disappeared in the same fashion. Yuffie watched as Cid, Shera and Densel walked forward and disappeared as well. "What's going on? What's happening to every one?" Yuffie called as she began panicking. "Come on Yuffie." Tiffa called out. Yuffie spun around and watched as Tiffa motioned for her to follow. "We're leaving now." Tiffa said as she reached to Yuffie with her right hand. Yuffie hesitated but eventually took the invitation and Tiffa's hand. Then she saw it, the light and the girl, her friend Aerith. The two walked toward her as she said, "Welcome home you two!"

On the surface of the planet the life stream erupts from the ground everywhere. First from under the old church completely destroying it, then a large sword with its tip buried in the ground was engulfed with the life stream, the buster sword as it was called was swept away with the mystical energy. Other places of interest were also destroyed in a similar manner. Than as if erupting from a volcano, their world exploded in a green flash, and the life stream traveled on a beeline course toward its new world, Earth.

**To be continued…**


	2. Chapter 2 New World, Old Problems

**Chapter 2 –** **New world, New Age, Old Problems.**

It has been ten years since the green water came to the Earth. It accumulates in large pools both above and below the ground. Some people have been exposed to it by being dunked or falling into the pools at the surface. All fall into an awake-like-coma, eyes open but completely unable to do anything except blink. Some however talk before falling into such coma. Most say the word 'Mako' as the green water has been dubbed, some warn of a man named Sephiroth, few don't make any sense at all, taking about 'Weapon' and 'life stream' and 'Cetra'. Most fall strait into the 'Mako coma' and some even die. A much different case in point happened for others, like what happened to a certain young man.

The 'Mako Pools' were too dangerous to be left alone for the general public to 'accidentally' wander into and fall in. So a security system was set up to protect them from such a fate. Fences, cameras and even guards were stationed to keep people away. One guard in particular was about to start his shift at the front gate to one of the many 'Mako Pools found in the region of America. Rummaging through his locker he found his uniform, a blue shirt and pants with black combat boots. Slipping the shirt over his dusty blond hair, his 'dew' came into view. His hair was short but stood strait up in the middle of the top of his head making a kind of mowhawk in the middle with a full head of short hair on the sides. He was well built in a sense that he was not large but he was strong. Strapping up his boots his hands showed a tan white skin. Looking into his locker he retrieves his badge with the name 'Cloud' on it. With a smile on his face and a laugh in his heart, he turns to his comrades whom he finds trying but failing to keep their laughter hidden. "OK guys. Very funny. Where is it?" he says sternly. Unable to control their laughter any longer, they all burst out in to fits, some even falling to the floor to hold their sides. "We got you good Robert." one said while tossing him his real badge. "Ya, ya, yuck it up." The boy said pinning his badge to his shirt. His face was still full of youth, at the age of 19 he was obviously the youngest in the room and had brown eyes. "I haven't been called 'Cloud' since High school." Robert says. Another man retorts in humor, "Ya, because the teachers always found your head there!" and the laughter grew so the entire facility could hear it. "Ha ha very funny." he said still keeping the smile on his face. Robert moved to get ready to start his shift, picking his way through his laughing co-workers. As soon as he reached the door, he looked in his hand at the badge made for the prank. It was well crafted and felt real to him, yet lacked the officer number that the real ones had. Feeling honored that they would go through all that trouble for a prank, the guard placed the badge in his pocket to keep as a memory, a souvenir.

At the gate, two guards were always on duty, and Robert was to be one of them for the next four hours. "Hey Chuck, I'm here to relieve you. It's my turn." The boy said with a smile thinking that even Chuck knew about his nick-name. Chuck hides a small smile and says, "Thanks…Cloud!" Both current guards start to chuckle. "Are you guys ever going to let me live that down? I told Stan this like months ago!" Robert chuckled. "Not a chance newbie!" the other guard called out. Chuck spun his head to look at the other guard and said, "You're not off the hook yet 'Peter Pan'." "It's just Peter." he said solemnly. When Chuck finally left to take a break, the two stood guard each minding his own business. Two hours later a new man came to take Peter's spot. The man had long black hair that he kept pulled back as much as possible. Other than that, he looked quite similar to the other guards since his face was constantly covered in shadows. Known for being a loaner type the others usually kept their distance. However, Robert was not the other guards. "Hey." He said with no answer. Robert was tot to be discouraged so he tried again, "Never seen you around." Still no answer but at least the man moved his eyes to look at Robert this time. "What's your name?" he asked innocently. The man's head turned to gaze into Robert's eyes. He could see focus and determination behind them but also something more. It was when the man spoke to him and smiled, that was when Robert began to feel nervous. "My name is Zack. And you are the new guy right?" "Y…yah." Robert was afraid, Zack's voice sounded as if there was something sinister lurking within him, but when his face was finally in the light there was a kind, gentle smile on his face. By the looks of him he was no more than 22 at the most. A perfect face, one that would have the girls swooning him without saying a word, and flawless skin, but his eyes, those eyes were blue and almost seemed to glow. Looking at his face, Robert just couldn't help but relax; he seemed like a nice guy. "My name is Robert. It's nice to meet you Zack." He said. Zack's voice almost seemed to fade into a kinder tone. "Nice to meet you to." He said then turned to resume his guard, but couldn't help but turn to ask, "Ever seen a Mako Pool up close?" Robert was a little confused at this but still answered, "No not really." Zack almost laughed as he said "Well go on. I won't tell. Besides it's nice to know what we are guarding right." Robert hesitated a little but eventually went to check it out.

Mako was a green liquid substance that glowed all the time. It was as thin as water but no one ever even thought about drinking it. As Robert walked up to the Mako Pool to see what the big deal was. He found himself staring into the depth of the liquid he was supposed to be guarding. When he looked up he saw what looked like a man standing on the other side of the Pool, inside the fence. Pulling out his gun to keep the situation under his control, he advanced toward the figure and called in the situation, "Suspicious person inside fence, far side, I may need backup, over." Over his radio he could hear the response, "Roger that." As Robert advanced he could see more of the figure starting with the long hair which was made out to be a silver color, then the black leather trench coat and the metal shoulder guards. "Freeze." Robert shouted. When the man looked up, he could see them, those glowing green eyes and an evil smile on his face. "I'll do as I wish." The man said. "You can't be here it's a dangerous place. Who are you?" Robert asked as he kept creeping forward. Suddenly the man extended his right arm and formed his hand as if he were holding something and pointing it at Robert's chest. In a flash of green light something did appear, a very long katana that went straight through the guard. Wincing in pain, Robert looked down to see the blade sticking out of him. "My name is Sephiroth. And I will be your new ruler." The man said sternly picking the poor guard up using the sword. "Die in the remnants of the old world." with that Sephiroth hurled Robert almost two hundred feet into the center of the Mako Pool to die.

As the boy sank, he could feel the Mako seeping into him, giving him a feeling of relaxing and just wanting to fade away. Sinking to the bottom, he could almost see something lying on the bottom of the bed floor. Something shaped like a sword, a BIG sword. With what strength he had left he swam toward it trying desperately to ignore the pain in his stomach. As he reached it he could see the red wrapped handle the single blade, the intricate designed hilt. It was beautiful, to say the least, and he reached out and took a hold of it. No sooner than he did this he heard a man's emotionless voice say, "Sit back. I got this." and his body started to move on its own. Planting the feet on the ground and pushing off, the leap the body made was more than enough to launch out of the 30 foot deep Pool. Sephiroth was surprised to see a figure jump out of the Mako Pool at all, but to see that the figure had **blond** spiky hair and the Buster Sword in his hands was even more of a shock. As the person landed, in front of him he looked him over. Sephiroth notice the sleeveless black cotton turtleneck shirt and the black slightly baggy jeans tucked into his beat-up brown combat boots. The large black belt around his waist that connected a strap holding his shoulder guard to his left shoulder, and the strange looking gauntlet on his left wrist with his brown leather gloves with grey finger tops, Sephiroth knew who it was. "Good to see you, Cloud" The man made no response, only held his sword in a fighting stance ready to go head to head with the other swordsman. "No words today, no hesitation? Cloud, that's not like you at all." The silver hared man said while getting into his own stance. The two stood still gauging each other for a moment, and then together they dashed at each other.

Swords clashing and sparks flying as each blow became more powerful than the previous one, every once in a while they would use a Limit Break like Cloud's Braver or Sephiroth's Octaslash. Neither gaining the upper hand until they separated, both staring at the other with ether hatred or focus. Sephiroth spoke again, "How long do you have here Cloud? You can't use that man's body forever. Or do you intend to end his life?" Cloud's eyes closed in response to Sephiroth's words still saying nothing. The silver haired swordsman, getting tired of the silence huffed and charged in again, as he did Cloud opened his eye to reveal glowing blue irises. Sephiroth stopped in his tracks and that was all Cloud needed, charging in, his body began to glow a brilliant blue. When he got close enough, Cloud went wild, chopping and slashing and stabbing and jumping, Cloud's Omnislash took Sephiroth by surprise and soon became too much to handle. Cloud leapt high into the air and came crashing down with his sword right on top of the villain. As Cloud backed away, Sephiroth spoke in a strained voice, "It is useless…Cloud…I will come back…And claim… my… rule." The blond man just stood there and watched as his adversary faded away in a black mist and floated away. Then Cloud could hear her again, Aerith calling to him, "That enough Cloud. Come on back and let the people of this world handle him." Nodding he faded away leaving the unconscious security guard alone, until his comrades came to his aid.

**To be continued…**


	3. Chapter 3 New Hero, Old Habits

**Chapter 3 – New Hero, Old Habits**

A hospital is a great place to be when you're injured, sick or dying. The security guard with no name was none of those. He was 'Mako Infected', a condition still under investigation. The condition only happens when Mako enters the body through external means such as open wounds or ingestion. Both were done in this case, doctors could only help to keep him alive. His case was so sever he couldn't even go to the bathroom by himself. Mako Infection numbs the nerves to a degree that the person cannot move, or speak. Normally people go from Mako Infection to a Mako coma within weeks of exposure. However the guard had not fallen into a Mako Coma in almost a month.

His eyes were constantly moving as if watching or expecting something. Suddenly they stop, he blinks and slowly sits up in his bed, looking around to find where he is. "OH MY GOSH." he hears a woman say off to his right, as well as a crashing sound. When he looks there is a nurse standing there, her face filled with shock, and a platter of hospital food spilled on the floor. "You're awake. Let me go get the doctor." she states as she hurries off. 'Doctor?' he thinks, 'Why do I need a doctor?' A few minutes later a man in a white lab coat and glasses walks in and up to him. The doctor had brown eyes and graying black curly hair, and a full beard on his chin. Under the lab coat he wore a white button down golf shirt and a blue sweater vest with light brown khakis. 'Where am I?' the guard thought as the doctor did various tests like shining a small flash light into his eyes and checking his blood pressure. 'What's going on?' he asks himself. "Physically he's ok. But I think we need to do more extensive tests to be sure." the doctor says to the nurse, than turns to the patient. "Are you able to speak?" he asks. "Y…yes." the guard slowly says. "Good. Do you remember your name?" the doctor asks. "Robert I think. But my friends at the Mako Pool called me Cloud." the boy said. The doctor began writing something down on a small notebook produced from his coats breast pocket and said, "No signs of amnesia. Can you walk or move?" Robert began to get concerned, but answered, "I think so." and scooted his legs off of the bed. His feet were bare and he shivered as they came in contact with the cold linoleum floor. "Good nerves still discern hot and cold." the doctor says and jots down his notes. Robert quirked an eye brow at the doctor thinking he might be crazy. Struggling only a little, Robert stood by his strength alone. Dressed in a hospital gown, he finally noticed how cold it was in his room. "Can I have my cloths now?" he asked. "I'm sorry we had to incinerate them." the doctor responded. "YOU INCINERATED MY CLOTHES? WHY?" the guard shouted. The doctor attempted to calm his patient by saying "Sir you have been Mako Infected for about a month. Your cloths were so saturated there was no way to save them. The badges were the only things that could be saved."

Looking next to his bed he could see the shiny metal of both of his badges, his real one and the prank badge. Picking them up to inspect them, he could remember the events as they unfolded, up until the voice in his head. 'A month? Mako Infected?' Robert's thoughts were running at light speed and still he could not figure it out. Instinctively he ran to the closest mirror he could find. What he saw was the same man he always was. Light brown spiked up hair, medium build, the face of a 19 year old, shinny blue eyes…'SHINNY BLUE EYES?' Looking closer he saw a sight he only saw in movies. His eyes had changed color, to blue and pulsed with a kind of light deep within them. "What's happened to me?" he gasped. "We're trying to determine that so if you will just wait until the specialists get here…" the doctor began. "What specialists?" Robert said alarmed. "The scientists from…" the doctor stated. "What are they going to do to me?" Robert asked trying to stay calm. His calmness of mind was shattered as he heard a car screech to a halt outside. When he looked out the window, he discovered a large black buss like van, and people pouring out of the sliding door, all dressed in white lab coats. On the side of the van in bold yellow letters was MH7, and that was what worried him. "You called the Mako Hunters on me?" "They are here to 'cure' you son." the doctor reassured. Robert watched as the men got closer to the hospital entrance. By the time the first scientist touched the handle of the front door; he panicked and ran to the window to find his way down to safety. Looking down he noticed that he was on the fifth floor, and no way of surviving the fall. Feeling trapped he looked for another way to escape, only to find the doctor had called for help. Seeing maybe five or six nurses and the doctor advancing on him he found his legs telling him to jump, so he did. Taking a small run back to the window and a mighty heave of his legs, Robert leapt from the building's window and out to the roof of the building next to it ten feet away and one story up. Surprise was apparent on all the faces who saw the feat, none more so than the guard. As he landed with the grace of a swan upon the roof, he could only ask himself, "Did I really just do that?" His thoughts were interrupted by the angry shouts of the doctor behind him, "Hey. Come back you're still infected." Realizing that this probably was not the safest place and that he could leap great heights, Robert began to jump from roof to roof running away from the place that he felt was dangerous.

As Robert reached the ground of an ally way, he remembered his cloths were not the best to be walking around in. But he also had no cash, just two badges. One real and one made specifically for a prank. Rummaging through a nearby trash bin, he located a pair of worn black cargo jeans. Not finding any kind of shirt he proceeded to the next one in the ally. In side he found a pair of beat up old black combat boots about his size and four pairs of worn dirty socks. Choosing the best looking, he placed the two badges in the pockets of his pants and traversed to the next ally to continue looking for a shirt. Soon he stumbled upon some good luck, a black turtle neck with severely damaged sleeves. Opting to just rip the sleeves off, he finally put the shirt, socks and boots on hoping to wash everything later. Walking out into the main drag he saw lots of people going to and fro, few paid any attention to him at all. Bringing the badges out of his pocket to look at them he decided that the first place to visit after his own home would be the Mako Pool he was assigned to so he could report back to work. Robert was so focused on the badges that he did not see the young girl running toward him until she literally ran into him. "Hey watch it!" she said in a huff. As she got off of him he got a look at her, she was no more than 16 or 17, had short black hair and a small build. After she began to take off again he looked around for his badges noticing they were not in his hands. After looking around a while he realized something, the girl just stole his badges. "HEY!" he called after her, "GET BACK HERE WITH MY BADGES!" and with that he took off after her. The trouble was keeping up with her as the girl was abnormally fast, and moved like lightning around corners and objects. "Quit following me!" she yelled. Her voice was loud and had a pitch that could reach high C if she tried hard enough. "Not until you give back my badges." He yelled back. Finally getting tired of the chase, Robert jumped into the air and landed in front of her. Startling her and looking into her eyes, her grey eyes shined with the same light that he saw when he looked into the mirror this morning. "You're like me." he whispered. Giving him a look that said she was not going to go quietly, her entire body began to glow in wisps of what looked like green magic to him. As the wisps ran across her body her cloths from a blue tattered t-shirt and blue tattered jeans, to a green sleeveless cotton turtleneck with a metallic guard plate on the left side with a full arm guard attached to it, on her right arm she sported a mesh arm sleeve and leather glove. She also wore short tan shorts and a kind of guard brace on her left thigh, tall socks and brown tennis shoes, a grey headband wrapped itself around her head just under her bangs and green tails dangled from the back of her head. In her right hand appeared a giant 4 point shuriken in the same manner as the change in her cloths. "What… how…?" was all Robert could say before she threw the weapon at him. It was everything he could do to dodge the initial attack but when it came back like a boomerang he was scraped in the cheek trying to dodge. Rolling away he found a safe place to keep out of sight. "What's a matter creepy? Can't Mako Shift?" the girl taunted continuously throwing and retrieving her shuriken. 'Mako Shift? Is that what that is called?' he asked himself, remembering the giant sword at the bottom of the Mako Pool he figured it was worth a shot. "Here go's nothing." he stated. Focusing completely on the image of the buster sword in his right hand, he soon felt a calming warmth move throughout his body, seemingly swirl around him and finish off in his hand leaving something tangible in his grip. Opening his eyes he looked down to find exactly what he imagined, the Buster sword was real.

Hearing her battle cry, he emerged from his hiding place and surprised her, "Hey watch out!" she called warning him of the incoming shuriken. Holding up his giant sword the flying weapon bounced off harmlessly and fell to the floor behind him out of her reach. "I just want my badges back." he said to her. "How are you carrying that huge sword?" she shouted in surprise. "I guess it's the same as you making a giant ninja star act like a boomerang. Now please give me my badges." he responded. "What are you going to do with them?" she asked. "Actually first I'm going home to clean up. You should to." he suggested. "I… don't have a home." She stated as if it were a fact of normal life. Now Robert felt sorry for her, having no home to go to was only in his worst imagination. "You can come stay a while if you like." he said solemnly. "What with you?" she retorted. "Well at my house. I've got plenty of room and you have nowhere else to go…" he informed her. "Well…ok but just for a while…" with that she looked at one of his badges before handing them back to him and said with a smirk, "Cloud." Cringing at the use of his nickname the man corrected her, "Robert. My name is Robert." "I like 'Cloud' better." the girl quickly said. "So what can I call you?" Robert asked innocently. "In a dream once I was called 'Yuffie'." she said. Robert thought about it some and said, "Yuffie. I like the sound of that."

**To be continued…**


	4. Chapter 4 New Friends, Old Feuds

**Chapter 4 – New Friends, Old Feuds**

"They actually called the Mako Hunters on you? Those creeps, every one they try to 'cure' are never seen again." Yuffie announced as they neared Robert's house. The Mako Hunters or 'MH' are a secret government group created seven years ago when a mako infected person became a monster and went on a rampage, killing several people before being killed by a small military group. So far the world knows of seven factions, MH1 is there response division. They are usually in charge of calling and dispatching the proper units to calls or outbreaks. MH2 is a militaristic faction that shoots first and asks questions later concerning mako. MH3 handles weapons and other types of technology that can help against Mako Monsters. MH4 is the more balanced faction opting to use investigative styles rather than just going in and doing whatever they want. MH 5 is like there Police; they take care of Mako related crimes like making drugs or poisons from it. MH6 is like a training facility and trains recruits to work in the fields, then separates them into the other factions. MH7 is there research division, they are supposed to be working on a cure for Mako Infection but so far they keep more secrets than the government.

The house was more of a store type place being a corner building with a 'Game Shop' sign hanging above it. Inside the first floor was the actual shop. Games and game consoles of all kinds were strewn out in a merchandising fashion to optimize business. At the far end of the shop near the back was a closed door. As they approached the door Robert could hear a man's voice coming from the other side, one he recognized. "James must be arguing with a customer again." Robert said as if it were supposed to be obvious. "James?" Yuffie asked in concern. "My twin brother." Robert sighed and knocked on the door. "TWIN? You're a twin?" Yuffie asked in surprise. "LOOK AROUND FOR TEN SECONDS! I'M ON MY WAY!" James yelled from what sounded like up stairs. Stomping could be heard as James made his way to the door, and Yuffie was getting nervous, "Maybe I shouldn't." she said as she began to back away. Before Robert could respond the door was flung open by a man who resembled Robert in many ways. Their differences were there hair styles, while Robert's spiked up in the middle, James kept his slicked back and groomed, and now they had two different eye colors. He also wore blue jeans and an orange t-shirt with a white thermal under shirt. "What do you…" he began to say, but stopped and took a better look at who he was talking to. "Robert?" he asked. "That's my name, don't wear it out." Robert responded. "What happened to your eyes?" James asked as if it were a crying shame. "I fell in a Mako Pool." Robert retorted. "Oh. Who's this?" James asked nonchalant looking at the young girl. "That's Yuffie. I promised she could stay in the spare bedroom." Robert told his brother. "Huh… Well come on in you two. We'll go shopping for the little lady tomorrow." James announced as he swung the door open wider and went to go lock the door to the shop. "Shopping?" Yuffie asked trying to wrap her mind around what just happened. "Yup. Gotta have extra clothes if you're gonna stick around. Maybe you can help me with the store." James chuckled. Yuffie was shocked to say the least, she had just made two new friends, gotten a place to stay and a job working there all in one day. How does someone handle something like this? Yuffie handled it her way, "I CALL FIRST SHOWER!"

Imagine having to go without a shower or fresh cloths for a few years and then suddenly you were in a place that had running hot water and plenty of it, as well as working plumbing and electricity. The feeling of being in heaven filled Yuffie as she let the hot water of the shower run over her and wash away every ounce stress she ever felt. She washed everywhere just to get that clean feeling all over her, enjoying the bliss of having a semi-normal life. Suddenly her bliss was shattered when a knock was heard on the bathroom door. "Yuffie you've been in there almost an hour, are you done yet?" she heard Robert call from the other side. "Just a minute Cloud." she called back. Then she heard chuckling come from the other side of the door. "Cloud?" she heard James say, "She calls you Cloud? Your old high school nickname? HA! Your girlfriend's a riot." Yuffie blushed from ear to ear after hearing that. Quickly she turned off the water and wrapped herself up in a fluffy white towel. As she opened the door, she saw Robert standing there with a towel of his own in his right hand, both staring at each other in silence. Robert than cleared his throat and handed her something in his left hand, an extra large shirt. "For your night gown I guess." He said in all awkwardness. Accepting the shirt she slowly pushed past him, accidentally brushing her arm against his. A shiver went up her spine and she sped up to get to her room quickly, blushing furiously and thinking one thing, 'What's wrong with me?' Inside her room was plain being a guest bedroom, there was an empty dresser and a vanity; a queen sized bed was sitting in the far corner with just plain white sheets and grey blankets. Suddenly she shook her head and said, "It's got to be that girlfriend comment of James'. I'll straighten it out tomorrow." she decided then put the shirt on. The shirt was large enough to cover her down to her knees, being a dark blue with the design of a European dragon breathing fire on the front of it. She then plopped onto the bed and let sleep take her almost before she was under the covers.

Morning came and Yuffie wanted to sleep all day, the mattress was like a cloud and she was in heaven. Covered for the first time in a long time in warm blankets and a roof over her head, a pillow comforting her head so it didn't hurt in the morning every time. This is what she had always wanted and she smiled at the thought of the nice boy she met who offered this to her. As she thought of Robert she suddenly remembered the events of yesterday all too clearly. Yuffie shot up in bed and looked around, finding herself still in the room she was given. The white walls, the grey blankets, even the dark blue shirt she had was all the same as it was before. The air was different though, it had a smell to it, the smell of pancakes and waffles. Even bacon was added to the mix of scents tantalizing her, teasing her stomach. She slowly got out of bed and stretched, then made the walk from her room to the kitchen using just her nose as her guide. That is where she saw him; Robert was at the stove flipping pancakes like a pro. On the table were two plates of cooked bacon and scrambled eggs, and a plate of waffles in the middle. He was fully clothed in a black turtle neck and fresh blue jeans so she had nothing snide to say about only wearing black. "Oh gosh that smells so good." she said scaring him out of his wits. "Yikes, can you please make some noise when you walk?" Robert said as a flapjack landed on his head. "Not a chance Cloud." she said with a smirk on her face. A thought suddenly hit her and she had to ask, "How am I going shopping if I've got nothing to wear?" Robert's response was, "I washed your old cloths. You can use them and I'll let you wear an outfit out of the store." "You'll let me? What about James?" she asked. "He went grocery shopping this morning. We're running out of milk." he said. "Ah milk…Wait will he turn us in?" Yuffie asked in worry. "No. He doesn't trust or like the Mako Hunters very much." Robert reassured her. "Ok. When do we go cloths shopping?" she asked. Robert smiled before saying, "Right after breakfast."

Shopping to say the least was a nightmare for Robert, Yuffie had to try on everything that fit her and sometimes even asked if something made her look fat. Security jobs like his made good money because of the liability, so he was not too worried about prices, he was embarrassed that Yuffie was making such a big scene. At least she never modeled her underwear for him. At the food court she nearly inhaled her food and made a mess of herself and the table. "Do you always eat like this?" Robert asked in complete embarrassment. "Not really. I'm lucky if I get two small meals a day." Yuffie answered in all honesty. "Well at least chew your food please." he suggested. When she nearly choked on a bite of hamburger he helped her by patting her hard on the back, she slowed down after that. After shopping they made their way back to the shop Robert to rest his legs, arms and head, and Yuffie because she wanted to put all her new cloths away.

Talking about anything she could think of Yuffie barely noticed when a man stepped into their path, however Robert noticed right away. "What do you want?" he asked the man. With a wicked smile the man spoke in a familiar voice the scared the guard out of his wits, "Good to see you to, Cloud." Suddenly, in a black wisp of energy, the man transformed into the same silver haired man that caused this whole fiasco, Sephiroth. "YOU!" Robert yelled and did the same thing he did when going up against Yuffie; he Mako Shifted the Buster sword. This time he noticed something was different, his shirt had no sleeves. Looking at the rest of him he found that his cloths had shifted to, he now sported a black cotton sleeveless turtleneck and black baggy pants that were tucked into his brown combat boots. His left arm had a metallic shoulder guard with four metal pieces sticking up from it, a heavy duty looking wrist guard and leather glove with grey finger tips. On his right hand the same leather glove and around his waist was a large black belt that looked like it would better serve as a back support belt, if it were not for the leather suspenders attached to it. Using the blade of the sword as a mirror, he noticed that his hair had not changed just his cloths. "Did I look like this the first time?" he asked Yuffie. She nodded with a "Yep, you did." "Back to old styles I see. Do you fight as weak as you did in the beginning?" Sephiroth taunted. "Listen I don't know what's going on but my real name is Robert not Cloud." Robert said trying to reason with him. "You can't fool me Cloud, I know you're real. And soon this world will belong to me to use as I see fit." and with that Sephiroth created his sword, the masamune.

The battle was mainly one sided as Robert mostly kept the buster sword between him and Sephiroth's lightning fast strikes. Not even letting the boy think Sephiroth continued to overwhelm the poor soul until he hit the sword hard enough to send Robert flying around fifty feet back before he landed and skid to a stop. Sore and bruised Robert made an attempt to rise to his feet, only to find Sephiroth coming straight at him. In desperation he put up a block again only Sephiroth was ready for it and spun around to hit the Buster sword again with enough force to send Robert flying again. "Ugh. He's going to use the pavement to kill me." Robert told himself. "You're stronger than you think. Just fight him and you'll be fine." said a calm monotonous man's voice from inside his head. "Easy for you to say, you're just me going crazy." Robert retorted. Sephiroth was on him in seconds, ready to finish the fight, "You've made this too easy Cloud. All your skills and you've failed so miserably. Perhaps this race is too weak to help you fight." With that he raised his masamune high into the air ready to deliver the finishing blow, Robert tried to rise the buster sword to block but Sephiroth stepped on the sword the moment it moved. All Robert could do was close his eyes and wait for his life to end, it never came. Opening his eyes he noticed Sephiroth was no longer standing over him, instead he was ten feet in front of him sitting on his butt and rubbing his stomach. Robert looked behind him and saw Yuffie standing there with a huge smile on her face. "Sorry but I don't let friends get killed by psychopathic swordsmen." She responded. Robert laughed silently to himself and said, "What would I do without you?" "That question will be answered shortly." they heard Sephiroth say, and he attacked Yuffie mercilessly. Yuffie seemed to have a better time defending herself. Her agility was astounding and she Mako Shifted on the move. Using her shuriken to deflect and attack, it seemed as though she might actually win, until Sephiroth spun his body in a circle and used his masamune to nearly cut Yuffie's head off. Instead she blocked with her arm guard and the masamune ripped right through it, cutting her forearm deeply and shattering the armor. Yuffie screamed out in the pain and collapsed to her knees while holding her injured arm tightly.

Seeing this, Robert became furious even as Sephiroth poised himself to put the masamune straight through Yuffie's heart. His eyes began glowing brightly and violently. In surprise Sephiroth turned around only to be blinded by the light that Robert's eyes gave off. "What is this?" Sephiroth shouted. Robert's only response was a battle cry as he charged in and leapt into the air and with his sword in hand came crashing down on the mad man. As Robert's eyes dimmed and stopped glowing, everyone could see the hero's sword blade down underneath the villain's legs and Sephiroth standing sill as a statue, the expression of shock still on his face. Then as he tried to move, a spurt of blood came from the top of his head. A red line from crown to belt made its self seen as blood came slowly seeping out of an invisible wound. Robert collapsed in exhaustion to the floor and Sephiroth spoke few words before fading back into the black mist he was made from, "Limit…Break?"

**To be continued…**


	5. Chapter 5 New Light, Old Shadows

**Chapter 5 – New Light, Old Shadows**

Yuffie had never been so worried in her life. Even the fear of never being adopted couldn't hold a flag to the way she felt now. Her arm was in a bandage, and the nicest person she ever met was sleeping in the bed next to her chair. Robert slept so soundly she almost thought he was dead. They weren't going to risk the hospital in fear of getting captured by MH. So she brought him back to his house. Looking at him now, she wondered what would happen if he did die. She would still have the job, the money and the cloths, but she would lose the man next to her. Sure he had a twin brother, but would it be the same? As thoughts ran through her head Robert began stirring in his bed, groaning from pain and fatigue. Hearing the groans she looked up at him and watched as he opened his eyes. "You're awake." she said softly and with more volume spouted, "Finally!" "Yah, good to see you to Yuffie." he said while holding his head. "You were asleep for like 5 hours, you lazy bum." she said in a huff. "I had a dream." he said, "And in it a man with really spiky blond hair was training me to use my sword." "A dream? You worried me sick for a dream?" she said without thinking. Robert smirked and said, "You were worried about me?" Blushing from ear to ear she turned her head to hide her embarrassment over what she just said. "Thanks Yuffie. How's your arm?" the guard said with gentleness in his voice. "It still hurts a little, but it's almost healed." she said softly. "Already?" the two of them heard James say as he entered the room. Letting go of her embarrassment, Yuffie responded with cockiness, "Yah, when you're Mako Infused your healing rate is greatly increased." "Mako Infused?" James asked, "You mean like exposed to high amounts of mako for an extended period of time." Yuffie thinking she could have a little fun with James decided to respond in her own way, "Very good Sherlock, figure that out all by yourself?" James could smell the challenge a mile away, "Eh, I'm going to be at the cash register if you need me." "What, you giving up?" Yuffie said thinking she'd won. "Na, I'm giving you two lovebirds some alone time." James said winning the game. Yuffie blushed so hard that her entire face looked like a cherry.

"I'M NOT HIS GIRLFRIEND. WE HAVE'T EVEN DATED YET" Yuffie shouted in frustration. "Yet?" Robert said from behind her. Yuffie's blush just deepened, and she stiffened like a board. She didn't dare turn around in fear that her outburst might have placed some doubt or other bad ideas into his head. She was utterly surprised when he said, "Would you like to go on one tomorrow afternoon?" Speechless didn't seem to cut it at the time. She was excited, shocked and nervous all at the same time. She couldn't get the words out in time so he said nervously, "If you don't want to that's ok. No pro…" "No actually, I'd like that." She interrupted him before he got the wrong idea. "I mean we did just…huh, really?" he almost continued his rant but stopped in surprise. "Yah sure uh… tomorrow one o'clock?" he said. "Yah that sounds great." she chuckled. "Great. See you then." he said. "Huh why? Where are you going?" she asked confused. "I've got to go back to the Mako Pool and tell them I can come back to work." "Oh ok then. See you tomorrow." she said. Grabbing his real badge, he headed out of the door and began his bike ride toward the Mako Pool about three miles away. Filled with a new feeling, Yuffie watched as he rode away. Looking around the room she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Walking closer she noticed the object she thought she saw, the prank badge. Knowing he may need to return it she began to think, how to return it to him without embarrassing him at work. Then it hit her, she could Mako Shift and be their without anyone knowing, she was a ninja.

Following the same old path he usually took to work Robert found the bike ride much easier for him. His black and red Schwinn city bicycle handling like a dream now and he never got off of the bike the entire time. Before the accident he'd had to get off of his bike to rest several times because of the hills on the rout. Thanks to such new found strength he actually found himself at the Mako Pool earlier than he expected. Robert was pretty sure he was going in and out to get himself off of sick leave, so he didn't lock his bike up like he usually would. Walking into the facility he was met with stares and shocked faces as he walked in the direction of the main office. Some smiled as he walked past them and one even congratulated him on a job well done. From inside the chief office he could hear talking and yelling, it sounded like the chief was in a debate with someone else who was more level headed, and loosing. As he neared the door to the office, it slowly opened and Zack walked out with a smile on his face. When Zack saw Robert he was slightly surprised and relieved at the same time. "Hey you're back! I was just telling the Chief how you discovered the man inside the fence." Realizing that leaving his post like he did could cost him his job, Robert nearly panicked. "I…I can explain…" he began. "No need Robert, Zack told me everything." the chief interrupted. Gulping, Robert tried to get himself ready to be fired. "Great works rooky, instincts like that are defiantly required in this line of duty." the Chief stated with a broad smile on his face. "Instincts, sir?" "That's what I chalked it up to when you turned around like that." Zack said. Robert's confusion only intensified as he tried to wrap his mind about what just happened. "You probably don't remember but you just turned around and said you thought someone was inside the fence. When I didn't believe you, you just said to stay at my post and that you would check it out." Zack said trying to clear up the issue. Now Robert knew what had happened, Zack had just lied to save Robert's job.

"Now don't worry about coming back to work for a while rooky. You will be on paid leave until this whole fiasco is over." the Chief said. Robert now knew something else was going on, "What fiasco?" "When you're cured." one of the officers said. As Robert turned around to see who said that, he came face to face with a man in a white coat. On his coat he saw a badge that looked like a European shield with the initials MH7 carved into the middle. "Oh sh…" Robert began to say, but was cut off by a shock to the stomach, one so powerful it took all his strength from him almost immediately. Collapsing to his knees his vision began to fade, he looked up to see what shocked him and found what looked to be a metal rod of sorts. The weapon had a blue and a red wire sticking out of the base of the rod that traveled the short distance to the actual handle which is probably where the high voltage power source was. The handle was yellow and covered in rubber, most likely to keep the wielder from getting stunned too. "You will cure him of the Mako Infection right?" the chief's voice could be heard saying. When the MH7 man spoke, it was almost like a rehearsed speech, so practiced and such a lie, "It may take some time, but yes we will cure him of his ailments." His voice almost sounded robotic and human at the same time. This was all Robert could hear before darkness and silence conquered his senses.

Out side the facility Yuffie could see the van of MH7 from her perch in the surrounding trees. Instead of surprising him like she wanted, she witnessed as Robert, her new boyfriend, was dragged and loaded into the van like a sack of potatoes. After all the men piled into the van and took off toward who knows where, she finally came out of hiding. Hanging her head she could only feel the shame of not helping him when he needed her, until she looked up and saw his bicycle still unlocked and ready to use. Her spirit soared when she realized maybe she could help him after all. Hopping on the bike she began to ride after the van in the direction she saw it going, never once stopping to rest. It finally came to stop at the front gates of an abandoned Military base. One that hasn't been in use since Mako came crashing into the Earth ten years ago, and for good reason, the entire base was surrounded by Mako. "Looks like the MH7 even does illegal experiments." Yuffie said and turned around so she could return the bike and ask James for advice on how to get her boyfriend out of there safe and sound.

Robert woke up with a splitting headache. Remembering he was supposed to be Mako Infused, he wondered if that was supposed to happen once in a while. Then he remembered the stun rod, the Mako Pool, and the MH7 scientist. Immediately he sat up and looked around, finding himself in a metal room laying on a metal bed with a single light bulb hanging above his head and a strange bracelet on his right wrist. It looked mechanical in nature and he wondered what it was for. Suddenly he heard his cell door open and he tried to Mako Shift but instead he felt a mind numbing pain shoot through his entire right arm and down to both his feet. It came so fast, he had no choice but to scream out in pain. "I wouldn't try that again if I were you boy." He heard a deep and aged voice say, as he looked up to see the owner he found a Scientist standing in the door way. The man was covered in shadows so he couldn't see his face. "What was that? Where am I?" Robert asked demanding an answer. The scientist moved forward into the light and Robert saw every detail of the man's wrinkled skin and the insanity in his eyes. The man's eyes were baby blue and he sported a long grey beard, with the top of his head bald and the rest of his hair completely grey, he was also thin as a rail and had a crooked smile with several missing teeth. "Welcome to MH7's hidden laboratory, your new home!" the scientist said with a look pure madness.

**To be continued…**


	6. Chapter 6 New Times, Old Ways

**Chapter 6 – New Times, Old Ways**

Yuffie's plan was simple; get in, get her boy friend and get out. The tricky part was to find a way in without being seen. She didn't want either of them to spend any more time than they needed to in that place. But the walls were huge and she was pretty sure that the cameras were still working, even without guards in the towers. Yuffie had a predicament on her hands seeing all cameras pointed in directions that were able to catch almost anything that got close to the walls, and the barbed wire on the top didn't help. She might make it if she found a closer tree than the one she was in but so far nothing.

Inside the facility was not what Robert expected. Every wall was in prime condition, as if someone was there to take care of them every day. The doors were almost new and the lights on the ceiling were in even better shape. The only rooms that hade furniture in them were the ones he saw other scientists lounging in, other than that he found nothing but scientific instruments and testing supplies. When the scientist and guards finally came to a stop, they stood in front of a set of double metal doors. "This is your first stop on the tour, your new living quarters. Oh but we recommend you don't decorate, you might not be here long, and no one leaves alive." the scientist said and opened the double doors. The inside of the halls was in the worst of states, the walls were dripping with rain water and the lights flickered on and off. But what concerned him was that they were not rooms at all, they were prison cells. As he walked down the hallways he found others situated in different cells. Some dead but the few he found alive started with a small black and white cat chained to a wall, in the next one he found a small red fox pup all curled up in the corner also chained to the wall. Each had the same device around there neck as he had around his wrist. Further on down he saw a couple who looked like they could be of some help. Stopping suddenly and shrugging off the guards he ran up to the caged couple. "What's going on?" Robert asked. As he looked he could see the couple clearly, the man was a large and muscular Samoan man with a tribal tattoo running around his right forearm and a goatee with short hair and glowing brown eyes. Sporting a shredded tuxedo and a device on his left wrist and a wedding ring around his left ring finger Robert knew that they must have been recently married. The woman was very pretty but she was also white skinned with long black hair the wedding dress and wedding band she wore suggested that they were spouses. She was not as tall as her husband but she was well endowed and looked to be fighting fit even underneath the tattered dress. "Don't really know much either. We've been here almost a week after we got dismissed from the hospital." The man said. The wife was crying her red glowing eyes out when she said, "We were on our way to our honeymoon when a drunk driver crashed into the limo and set us into a Mako Pool. Iareto got us out of the car by opening a window." After that she continued to cry into Iareto's chest seeking comfort. As the guards got a hold of Robert ad dragged him away he heard Iareto say, "It's going to be ok Tiffany, we'll get out of here."

When they finally shoved him into a cell and locked it from the outside, Robert just turned around gabbed the bars and watched as they walked away. Sighing and feeling defeated, the boy slumped down onto the floor, then he heard someone say, "So you're the new comer huh?" Robert was surprised at the voice; it was dark and kind of raspy but held wisdom in its dark tone. Robert deduces that the voice was coming from an occupant he didn't see probably in the cell next to him. "Yah, names Robert but my friends call me Cloud." The voice huffed a little then said, "There is no need for formal names we are all here for his pleasure, but if you must call me something, call me Vincent and I shall call you Cloud agreed?" Robert just accepted the facts as they were, "What do you mean by 'his pleasure' any way?" he asked. "To Dr. Lazarus, we are just experiments, things to study and dispose of. We are not human to him at all." Vincent said. "Experiments huh? We need to find a way out of here." Robert reasoned. "Agreed, but none of us can leave until these devices are removed. They sense when Mako energy is being used and redirect it as an intense shock to numb the nerves and cease concentration." Vincent informed. "Yah I figured that out the hard way." Suddenly a familiar voice could be heard from the air vent above him in the hall way, "Isn't that the way you always learn?" Robert looked up to see Yuffie's head poking out of the ceiling vent. "Yuffie? How did you get in?" he asked. "It wasn't easy." She said as she landed silently on her feet, "I had to use all the strength I had to jump over the wall and the barbed wire." "I don't mean to interrupt but you should get us all out of here. You don't have a device nor do you have the time to chat." Vincent interrupted. "Right." she said, and Mako shifted into her battle ready self. Robert stuck out right arm and said, "Just cut this off and I'll do the rest." Doing as she was told Yuffie used her shuriken to cut the band of the offensive device and free Robert from his restraints. As soon as the device hit the ground Robert Mako Shifted and went to work. "Stand back Yuffie." he said and slashed the cell door in half horizontally.

"Stick out your hand Mr." Yuffie said and Vincent did as he was told without a word. Yuffie cut the band of his device, he Mako shifted though Robert couldn't see it and there was a shot heard. When he emerged, Vincent wore a red cape with a high collar, and a form fitting black leather bodysuit. On his left arm he had a brass claw gauntlet that stretched from his fingers to the middle of his forearm. His feet were covered in brass pointed shoes that clanked when he walked. His skin was tanned; his hair was raven black and sported a thick red wrapping for a headband. His eyes shined a red color with the glow of Mako behind them. In his right hand Vincent held a three barreled pistol. "This is the only for you will find me in. I have come to enjoy the feel of it." Vincent informed. "Fine then lets go get the others." Robert said. "Others?" Yuffie questioned. "You go. I have a score to settle." Vincent told the others. "We'll meet at the front gate in half an hour." "You got it Vincent." Robert stated, ant the two of them went to work freeing the others. Meanwhile Vincent just ran all the way to the entrance door and kicked it open. On the other side he found guards, shocked and amazed at the spectacle they saw. Vincent had little time to waist so holding up his gun he said, "I have no quarrel with you. Just get out of my way and I won't feed you to Cerberus here." As he said the last part he motioned to his pistol indicating it had a name, and an appetite. The guards looked at each other and split into two groups, those who believed Vincent and those who did not. The believers backed away and ran while the others advanced with the intent of taking him down. Vincent went to work, firing multiple rounds of shots at his targets, hitting them every time. Whenever a guard got a shot off, he would either block it with his left arm or jump over it and continue shooting. Either way, it was Vincent one point per hit and Guards zip.

Advancing through the crowds of both scientists and guards the red caped man made his way to one specific room, the room that Dr. Lazarus was always in, the main lab. There he was, the madman, standing over a microscope peering into some unknown specimen to determine what could be done. "I knew you'd come, monster." Dr Lazarus taunted. "Then you know why I am here as well, creature of science." Vincent retorted. "You wish to take me in and make me face an invisible crime." The Dr. said. "Your crime is not invisible, but real, as real as my human nature." Vincent said. Dr. Lazarus laughed and said, "Human nature, you are not human any more soldier. You are a part of something else, something greater than humans can ever be. An evolution into something more." Vincent was appalled, "Evolution? This evolution, as you call it, is dangerous." "Ha, those higher-ups could never see the power put into this evolutionary process. Only the strong can evolve into what you and your new friends are now." Dr. Lazarus ranted on and on trying to persuade Vincent that his way was right. "Survival of the fittest? You think you can be one of those survivors? Sorry to disappoint you Professor, but you've been wrong from the start." Vincent said as he held up the Cerberus. Dr. Lazarus grinned an awful grin of insanity right before Vincent pulled the trigger. The shot could be heard reverberating throughout the entire facility. Standing over the dead body of the man he just killed Vincent spoke, "I was never the monster."

"What was that?" Yuffie asked at the front gate. Robert just stared out into the direction the sound came from. Out of the shadows Vincent emerged with a look of what could be only described as relief. "Are you going to introduce me?" Vincent asked. "Robert smiled slightly and gestured to Vincent. "Everyone this is Vincent, Vincent this is Yuffie my girl friend." "Hi." she said. Then he gestured to Iareto, "This is Iareto Barret but he likes everyone to call him Barret." "Hello." Barret said. Gesturing to the bride Robert introduced her, "This is Tiffany or Tiffa Barret, his wife." "Pleasure." She said. Gesturing to the fox pup he announced, "This is Red Thirteen." "Hi I hope we can play together soon." The little thing said. Turning to the cat Robert said, "And this is Cait Sith." "Good to meet you." It said in a Scottish accent. "Charmed." Said Vincent, "I suggest we all get going. Do you have a place for us to stay?" Robert looked down in shame, "Not at my house. But maybe you can use my other house. I was going to rent it out anyway." "You have two houses?" Tiffa and Yuffie said. "Well yah. My job pays pretty good and I haven't had an accident for eight months till now." Robert said shyly. "Let us help." Tiffa said, "Barret has a lot of money from his professional Football career and I can still teach Yoga." "I also have a decent savings from my years as a Mako Hunter." Vincent announced. "You are a Mako Hunter?" Yuffie asked in nervousness. "Former Mako Hunter. Now I'm like you, Mako Infused." Vincent corrected. "Well ok then, Let's get walking." Robert announced.

**To be continued…**


	7. Chapter 7 New Days, Old Knights

**Chapter 7 – New Days, Old Knights**

"Well this is the place." Robert said as he came to a stop in front of a very large house. The front was white with two wooden posts on either sides of the front of the porch leading to the front door. The porch its self was made of very sturdy oak and looked a bit rustic even if the wood looked brand new. The house looked to be three stories tall and had a cozy feel about it. The roof looked like an old fashion wood shingles from afar but if one were to go up to the roof and look they would see the latest in roofing technology a state of the art shingle that only looked like wood bark. The windows were in perfect shape and the area around it was very well taken care of. The surrounding trees made for a good cover to keep the house hidden from someone not looking from the sky. The acreage was made up of two and a half acres of land filled with all sorts of things like ripe apple trees and skittering squirrels. Red thirteen jumped at the chance to play with all the different creatures he saw. "Wow this place is great!" the pup said. "Sorry you have to see it like this but I haven't been here in a month so the grass is a little long and the inside's probably dusty." "Is that all you're worried about?" Cait Sith asked. "We'll help clean it up. Won't we honey?" Tiffa said asking her new husband. Barret gawked at the sheer size of the place. "This place is pretty big, you sure that we can do this?" he said worried. "You're not alone with her here. All of us will pitch in and clean up." Vincent said. "Not me," Yuffie announced, "I'm not living here." Robert stopped and just looked at her, the look said she was helping whether she wanted to or not. "If that's the case then where are you staying, with Cloud?" Cait Sith asked. "Yup." Yuffie said, then she thought about it a little, "But in separate rooms." She added. Tiffa just chuckled silently out of control, obviously at Yuffie's expense.

The work around the house went fairly quickly, with everyone helping. Tiffa even taught Red Thirteen how to dust in high places as she tossed him in the air and caught him, he had a blast. After all that, the occupants separated into their new rooms. The married couple was given the master bedroom being it had the biggest bed. Vincent took one of the twelve other rooms away from the master bedroom to give them their privacy. And Red Thirteen took the room next to Vincent's saying he was big enough to have his own room. Cait Sith decided he would sleep anywhere he wanted, he is a cat after all. After Robert gave the others his house number and the keys, he and Yuffie started on their way back to his home in the city. "I had no idea that you had a house that big. How come you never use it Cloud?" Yuffie asked. Robert sort of cringed at his nickname but let it slide, she was his new girlfriend after all. "It's way too big for just me. It was left to me by my late father, and I just never wanted to get rid of it." Yuffie laughed and said jokingly, "That could be our new headquarters." Behind the two a van could be seen speeding up towards them. Robert laughed at her comment and said, "Now why would we need a headquarters?" However before he could get an answer, the van came to a screeching halt next to the two and opened the sliding door. Two men in black suites reached out and grabbed the closer of the two, which happened to be Yuffie. The men pulled her into the van and closed the door, and then the van began speeding off. "YUFFIE!" Robert screamed, and ran after the van. Being nowhere near fast enough on foot, Robert looked for a fast set of wheels. He found a nearby fenced off lot full of different vehicles, including sports cars and motorcycles. Jumping over the fence he grabbed the nearest motorcycle he could see, a black and blue Harley Davidson and looked for the keys. However as he gripped the handles mako began seeping out of his hands and arms and into the bike. Shifting the frame and wheels till it looked like a totally different bike all together. The elongated front end was made completely out of silver color metal; the fender was just a small metal plate sticking out the front end and the tires were thin. The main body of the bike looked like they tried to take a sports car's nitro engine and fit it into the small area between the frames, and made it work. The tail pipe was large enough to be used as a club and the seat, although leather, was very comfortable. The handles of the bike also pointed down instead of sided ways. "What?" Robert said in a gasp. He snapped out of his confusion when he heard a police siren from behind him. Revving the engine of his new motorcycle, he took off and lifted the front tire high into the air, driving only on the back tire for almost ten seconds and came crashing down on the fence that separated him and the road he needed to take to rescue Yuffie. Baffled the two policemen in the car turned to each other, "Do you want to call this in?" the driver said. "Call what in?" his partner asked.

Driving down the main stretch as fast as he could without crashing, Robert finally spotted the black van up ahead. Speeding up to catch the getaway vehicle, He was surprised to see the back doors open and three goons aim automatic guns at him. "CLOUD LOOK OUT!" he heard Yuffie call out. Using his left hand since his right was needed to keep his speed up, he Mako Shifted the Buster Sword and put it in front of him. Blocking each bullet as it hit the sword was not easy and he knew he was getting nowhere fast and loosing speed quickly. Sliding quickly to the side of the road, Robert sped up and hurled his sword into the sliding door of the van burying it about a foot in. Squeezing back toward the van, Robert grabbed a hold of the handle of his sword and pulled it along the side of the van, completely tarring through the sides. Raising the giant blade high in the air, Robert slashed down across the door of the van slicing it in half. The front part of the sliding door came off of the latch as the back half slid backwards to the open position and swung away from the van itself. The piece of the door that fell of almost collided with him slowing him down drastically and put him right back in the same position he was to begin with, behind the van about fifty feet and under heavy fire. Putting the Buster Sword back up to guard him, he swerved again to the same side of the street, and got fired at some more. Speeding up to get even with the back end of the van, he kicked the swinging back door as hard as he could, and knocked it into one of the goons. Dropping back just a little he decided to switch sides and do the same thing, kicking the door with his other foot and closing the back completely. Speeding up again he put himself in front of the van and kept a good pace and yelled, "YUFFIE JUMP OUT THE SIDE." Sliding quickly to the open side of the van, he slowed down till he was even with the door, almost immediately Yuffie made the leap for him as he made the Buster sword disappear. Reaching out with his left hand Robert caught Yuffie and helped her get onto the seat behind him and hit the brakes. Yuffie instinctively wrapped her arms around his waist to keep from going anywhere else as Robert came to a sudden stop. The van skid to its side trying to stop itself however the van had so much momentum it literally flipped over and rolled several times before landing on its top. 'Thank you Robert." Yuffie said with her face still buried in his back. "Yah, any time Yuffie, any time." was his response. Looking up at the wreckage, Yuffie decided that the two of them should go. "No reason to stay any longer, we might get blamed for it." Yuffie said. "But…" Robert said with worry in his face. "Listen I know it's hard but it's what happens. People see us and they automatically assume bad things are our fault, humanity isn't ready to accept us yet." Yuffie said trying to convince him to leave. "You sound like you've been through this before." He said. Yuffie lowered her eyes to look at the ground and said, "I have, but I've also seen the good side oh ordinary people." Raising her eyes to meet Robert's she perked up and said "Let's go home. I'm in desperate need of some sleep." "We stay." Robert said sternly. "What?" Yuffie asked in shock. "Didn't you just hear what I said?" "I heard, but to just up and leave would be like you really are guilty. We stay and tell what really happened. If others cannot accept the truth, then shame on them." Robert stood his ground, giving her a look that said he was going to do as he said.

Explaining things to the police was not easy, they asked the same questions four or five different times and one even accused them of lying. It wasn't until a man wearing a light grey duster trench coat walker up to the police, that the two had any relief at all. "Excuse me officer," the man said, "But hounding them when they're telling the truth will get you nothing but a headache." His voice was sort of dark but had a tone of righteousness to it; his face was broad and handsome with short black hair and chops moving down to his cheek bone. Under the oversized duster coat, he wore a black polo shirt and blue jeans with black Dockers shoes to top it off. An informal look but one he proudly wore. The cop interrogating Robert looked at the man in disgust and said, "This is no place for civilians. Who are you any way, and how did you get past the barrier?" The man calmly reached to his belt and pulled up a badge shaped like a circle with a large MH written on the front of it, around the outside boarder was the words MAKO HUNTERS 4TH DIVISION written in black engraved letters. Under the MH on his badge the word CAPTAIN was written and under that the name THALWALD was written in smaller letters, all engraved into the badge. "Captain Antoine Thalwald of the Mako Hunters fourth Division, forensics unit, and seeing that a Mako enhanced citizen was involved this has become a MH crime scene." "Mako Hunters eh? Well you're too late, I've got this one already solved. These kids were out joy riding on his transformed bike and caused an accident with the van over there." the police man said. "Nothing involving Mako is cut and dry Sergeant, I'll take over from here." The captain said. "What, wait I said…" the sergeant tried to complain. "This is official MH business. Please leave or you will be removed from the scene by force, do I make myself clear?" the captain said forcefully. The policeman growled at the Captain as he stomped away slowly. More MH detectives came into the scene, dismissing all of the unbelieving police officers. Some you could tell were still new to the squad from their nervousness. "So kid what actually happened?" the Captain asked as he turned to Robert. Robert began telling the Captain the entire story, from the time he was kidnapped to the time the van did its acrobatics, leaving out the location of his new friends. Captain Thalwald nodded the entire time, listening intently and writing down every word he said in his note pad. "We heard reports that MH7 was keeping secrets, looks like they were true." He said looking toward the wreckage. "Ok kid, we'll check your statement with your girlfriend's and see if it checks out." Robert stood there, and waited to see what was going to happen.

He felt a little uneasy being separated from her so long and he didn't expect her to sneak up behind him and cover his eyes. "Guess who." She said with a broad smile on her face. Smiling happily Robert said, "Shania Twain?" Yuffie let go of him, knowing he was joking and gave a false pout. "How could I be Shania Twain? I'm way prettier." Robert just chuckled a little and smiled at her, looking to her left a little, he saw Captain Thalwald walking up to the two of them. "Well looks like your stories both match up, I'm sorry for the haste the police gave you. I had no idea that MH7 was doing such a thing. You two are free to go, and you helped out a lot." He said. "Noproblem,'dbettergetgoing. BYE!" Yuffie said quickly as she dragged Robert to his motorcycle. "What was that? He just helped us stay out of Jail." He said. "I know, it's just… I don't trust any of the Mako Hunters at all."

**To be continued…**


	8. Chapter 8 New Age, Old Memories

**Chapter 8 - New Age, Old Memories.**

The dawning of a new day brought Yuffie back into a good mood. Smiling because of the soft bed she was able to sleep in two nights in a row and because of the wonderful smell she woke up to. Jumping out of bed and shuffling through her new drawers to find the perfect out fit for the day, she almost just gave up on the shower because breakfast smelled so good. Running into the shower she decided to make it sort of quick to find what was teasing her nose so much. Washing her hair and body with the available soaps and conditioners, and rinsing off, she dried herself quickly before putting on a red t-shirt and some form fitting jeans. As soon as she got into the kitchen she looked at what may be cooking. She found no one at the stove, pouting only a little she turned her attention to the table. There she found Robert and James eating bacon, eggs and sausage with something she didn't recognize, a very thin pancake with three kinds of jelly on the sides. "What's a matter Yuffie? Wanted to get a glimpse of your boyfriend at the stove again?" James called out. "Well at least I've got someone that likes to cook for me you moocher." Yuffie retorted. James raised his eyebrow noticing that she had no problem with him calling Robert her boyfriend; obviously they were now an item. "So when are you two going to tie the knot?" He quickly responded. Yuffie just froze where she stood, shock and embarrassment written all over her face. She could not believe that he just asked that question. "Th…that's not fair." She complained. "All's fair in war." James shot back winning the game again. Robert just sat there ignoring the two as they did there morning ritual of 'Back and Fourth'. Just listening to them gave him a headache. "Cloud, say something. Make him stop." She complained. Without looking up he said, "James you win, Yuffie eat your breakfast and have a crape. Then get ready to go out on an all day date." He felt like a father scolding his kids, but for some reason he liked that about Yuffie. "Why does he get to…date, did you say date?" Yuffie asked in surprise. "Yup, I did." Robert said as he got up from his chair and took his empty tea cup with him. Thinking about it some more she finally asked, "What's a crape?"

An all day date was something Yuffie had not planned on at all. After breakfast and learning what a crape was, she rushed back to her room and slammed the door. Going straight to her closet she searched her drawers for her best casual outfit. She finally decided on her light green spaghetti strap top and a cream blouse that hung off of her shoulders, as well as a darker green skirt that almost touched her knees and green flat bottom shoes and tall white socks. To top it off she added a green hair band with an emerald colored butterfly on it. 'I hope he likes it.' She thought to herself. Exiting her room, she quietly closed her door and decided to sneak up on her boyfriend again. Looking to the right she saw a slightly open door to a room and it sounded like someone was inside. Curiosity got the better of her and she just had to go see who it was. Peeking in through the crack she saw something that made her freeze in shock and embarrassment, Robert was inside wrapped in a towel and still wet from his shower. Her breath caught in her throat as she continued to watch him walk around the room. Suddenly, with his back turned to her, he pulled the towel off and brought it up to dry his hair. Yuffie's face could not have gotten any redder as she found herself glued to the sight of him. He began to turn around and Yuffie saw the entire package, although she decided to finally stop peeping and just walk away redder than a beet and crazy thoughts running through her head. She opted to sit on the couch in the living room, telling herself it was safer. When he finally did come out he wore an almost new pair of jeans, and a black polo shirt. She almost couldn't look at him without remembering what she saw, and constantly blushed because of it. "Well, ready to go Yuffie?" Robert asked. "Um…yah sure." She shyly said as she stood up. "You ok Yuffie?" he asked in concern. Yuffie put her hands up and smiled, trying to make it seem like she wasn't thinking something naughty. "Y…yah I'm ok. It's just…" thinking quickly she decided to change the subject, "I know, why don't I introduce you to a friend of mine?" Robert was baffled, he was sure she was hiding something but whatever it was she seemed embarrassed by it. "A friend?" "Yah, he helped me a lot when I needed him the most. He's kind of old school Chinese so don't argue with him." She said as she led him out the door. "What kind of help did he give you?" Robert asked concerned. Yuffie smiled at the memories of the Chinese man. "He fed me when I had nothing to eat, and taught me how to defend myself from thugs and such. But he never let me stay with him like you did, and he never bought me cloths."

They traveled through down town for about thirty minutes and walked for another ten, until she led him to an old looking Chinese pagoda in the middle of almost nowhere. The building was about four stories high and each floor had a portion of a roof poking out on each side. The roofs all had a red thick tile to help keep out the rain and the walls were white with a red trim. Above the door of the pagoda was a sign that read, 'Wutai Traditional Chinese cuisine' telling Robert that this was a Chinese restaurant. Despite its surrounding, the restaurant was incredibly full of people. "Food here must be good." Robert said. "Very good, it's real Chinese cooking." Yuffie informed her boyfriend. "Did he give you leftovers?" Robert asked. "No he gave me fresh food and cooked it himself." Yuffie said remembering the last time she was here. Suddenly a young Chinese man no more than 25 came out of the restaurant and stormed up to them. "Oh boy here we go." Yuffie sighed. Robert looked at her confused, "Huh?" "You are not welcome here little thief. Leave now and I won't call the police." The man's voice was a typical Chinese voice and you could hear the Chinese accent in the way he spoke, even with perfect English. He had a thin face with short black hair and brown almond eyes, a scowl was almost painted on his face. He was not a very big build nor was he very tall. He wore a red shirt and black slacks with an apron covering his front. "Hello Kueng." Yuffie said with absolutely no enthusiasm. "Go away." The Chinese man said to her. "Kueng. That is no way to speak to a friend." An old Chinese man walked out toward the group. The man wore traditional Chinese clothing and wore it proudly. A red robe like garment designed with a Chinese dragon lined with gold leaf and black and white fabric hung from his shoulders. His hair and long beard were both white with age and his face was wrinkled and you could barely see his eyes. He kept his hands tucked in the oversized sleeves of his robe. The younger man turned and bowed to his elder and said, "Forgive me father I was just getting rid of some vermin." The last part he said while glaring at Yuffie. "Now Kueng you know better than to call friends and customers names. You'll have to excuse him; he doesn't like Yuffie very much. He feels that she has stolen from our restaurant." When the man spoke, you could hear the ancient wisdom coming from generations of wise men. His thick Chinese accent was a dead giveaway that he had moved to the Americas from his own home in China. "My name is Guang. Welcome to our restaurant." "This is my boyfriend, Cloud." Yuffie introduced. Guang raised one of his bushy white eyebrows looking at the boy, "Cloud is not your real name I think." He deduced. Laughing with slight embarrassment, Robert confirmed Guang's suspicions, "That would be correct, my name is Robert." "Please come in. I'm happy to see that Yuffie has finally found someone she can rely on." Guang said practically pushing them into the restaurant. "Father, I must object." Kueng said. "Kueng, just because she was once found stealing food, does not mean that she is to blame, you must always see the situation for what it is before making judgments about others." Guang gave his son this wisdom before departing into the restaurant to join his guests. Outside Kueng stood there with a frown, anger running through his soul.

Inside the restaurant, Yuffie was being thoroughly embarrassed by Guang's stories about her. "Guang please stop it. You're acting as if you were my dad." Yuffie just couldn't take it anymore, her boyfriend already knew about the time she got caught trying to steal food from the kitchen, and every embarrassing story about her training that Guang could remember. "With how much I've cared for you, I might as well be." The old man said smiling. Robert laughed quietly at that. Yuffie was now blushing up a storm, "Excuse me I've got to visit the little girls room." With that she stood up and walked toward the restrooms. As soon as she was out of sight, Guang turned to Robert, "I can't believe she sat through that entire thing. She is just as stubborn as I am." "Kueng doesn't like Yuffie because of the time she tried to steal food?" Robert asked. Guang's face fell into a sort of depression, "It actually started about a year ago, and she always came around if she could find no other food to eat or if she was injured. Kueng played and trained with her every once in a while, suddenly he just started blaming her for something I know she did not do." "And what was that?" Robert asked. Guang tried to remember everything, however even he was baffled by the story he told, "One year ago money started disappearing from the savings account in large increments. I asked Kueng if he knew what was going on but when he opened his wallet, his business debit card was missing. A few weeks of investigation and a video of someone dressed like Yuffie withdrawing a large amount of cash using Kueng's Debit card was found at one of the banks that we used for the business account. They never showed it to us but Kueng immediately blamed Yuffie for the vanishing money and she denied it. However I saw something in her eyes that Kueng would not see. Truth." Robert listened intently to Guang's story, but was surprised when the old man smiled and said, "You have one week my friend." "Huh?" Robert sat there in shock and confusion. "Yuffie's eighteenth birthday is on Saturday of next week. You must ask her to marry you on that day." "Whoa, what?" Robert asked in shock. "She needs someone like you. You can make her happy. I can see it in her eyes and on her face. She will be of age soon and needs guidance and security. You can give her that." Guang insisted. Robert only looked at the old man quizzically, then sighing he finally said, "I'll try." That very moment Yuffie decided to reappear,"So what did you two talk about?" "I was just giving him some old Chinese remedy tips to help clear the mind." Guang covered up.

From behind them they heard Kueng shout, "You thief, give it all back." Yuffie turned around with curiosity on her face, only to see Kueng stomping up to her. "First our business account and now our cash register. Once a thief always a thief. Give us back our money." He shouted at her. Yuffie's eyes went wide with shock and confusion, "What are you talking about?" she asked. "We know it was you now just give it back." As Kueng ranted, Guang just lowered his head. "But I haven't stolen anything from you." She said. "Everyone saw you do it Yuffie, you got caught at the ATM and you got caught now just give it back." "Wait. It was an ATM camera?" Robert asked. Kueng stayed quiet as Guang said, "Even I didn't know that. How did you know it was an ATM Kueng?" Everyone could see the panic on Kueng's face as he tried desperately to think of an answer. Guang interrupted his son, "Your silence speaks novels my son. Now I know it was you who has been stealing from our business. But my question is why?" Kueng stood there, shock and unbelief on his face. Robert stood up and asked Guang's question and his own, "Why'd you do it? Why'd you blame Yuffie this whole time?" Kueng lowered his gaze to the floor, and smiled deviously. "Two reasons actually, all my life I've had to settle for second best, I never really got what I wanted so I stole it from others. At first, it was food so I stole from the kitchen, but as I grew so did my desires and now I want something more. Before Yuffie showed up, I was the best in my father's class then this he brings in this scrawny girl, and teaches her for an entire week and she gets better than me, and I'd been training since I was 3. The Money was to pay for my way of life, the girls, the expensive games and instruments I never play. Blaming Yuffie was to try to get her out of my way and at the same time keep suspicion off of me." "So it was you the entire time? You tried to ruin Yuffie because you were running your father's business into the ground." Robert shouted. Kueng quickly pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Yuffie, point blank. She froze up quickly and Kueng began to explain, "You were always better than me, and I hated that, but now I'm number one." "FREEZE!" they all heard from behind Kueng. Standing there, was a strange sight, a man wearing a blue flight jacket and goggles with a scarf and brown flight pants, was pressing a spear against the Chinese mans back. The man' fiery red hair was short and spiked up thanks to the leather head band the goggles rested on. In that band on the left side, the man had stuck a box of camel cigarettes, the man's brown leather gloves span the entire length of his forearm and he had a short scruffy red beard growing. His glowing baby blues suggested that he was Mako Infused.

"You've got guts to pull something like that." The man said, "But it would have been better if you just did things legally, like me." The man's voice was a mix of a surfer's voice with the speech of a college gym teacher. Pressing the tip of the spear harder into Kueng's back the man said, "Drop it pal." The Chinese man just about pulled the trigger when the man spoke again, "And if I hear even the creak of the hammer, I'll plunge this thing strait through you. Just drop it on the floor." Kueng made the wise decision; he dropped the hand with the gun to his side and let the pistol fall to the floor. Within minutes, the police had arrived and Kueng was in handcuffs. Yuffie held onto Robert for dear life, still frightened of what had just happened. The red haired man walked up to the young couple and asked, "She ok?" this time when they saw him he had one of his cigarettes hanging out of his mouth and lit. "Yah, she will be." Robert said calmly. Yuffie just whimpered a little as she hugged him tighter. "Thank you for your help Cid. My restaurant and this girl would be lost without your interference, and your shipment has come in. I will soon be able to pay you off completely." Guang said. "Eh, no problem old man. You still owe me my meal though." Cid said. "And you still have no manners." Guang said, and then turned to Yuffie and Robert. "I would like to introduce you to my friend and fish distributer, Cid Casts. Cid this is the girl I always tell you about, and her future. His name is Robert." "My friends call me Cloud." Robert said more out of instinct. "Nice to meet someone else who's Mako Infused." Cid spouted off. He turned to Guang and said, "I just knew that boy of yours was up to no good. It's a fisherman's instinct you know." "Kueng has shamed my family and I intend to rectify any misdeeds he has committed. The police will look through his home for any stolen property and return them to their rightful owners." Guang said depressed. "Good for you old buddy, that'll get your honor back. Any who…" But before Cid could continue the same Policeman that interrogated Robert during the crash stomped up to the group. "You again I should have known." The chubby man said. "What are you going to blame me for this time?" Robert asked. Before the officer had a chance to speak, Guang spoke up sternly. "Everyone has given their statements Sergeant, I doubt you have anything to pin to these people even if you searched." The officer just growled and turned to continue the investigation. "Thanks buddy." Cid said to Guang. The old Chinese man just looked at Cid and said, "It is the least I can do as thanks for saving my surrogate daughter."

"Thanks for the ride Cid." Robert said as he walked up to his house door with Yuffie still latched onto him tightly. "Any time kids, call if you need my help." Cid said as he drove away in a beat up old grey ford f150 pickup. Fumbling for his keys Robert opened the door to his home and lead Yuffie to her room. Once inside she wouldn't let go of him and if he tried to escape she would start to cry in fear. "Don't leave me." she finally whispered to him. "Don't worry I won't leave you." He reassured her. "Ever?" she asked burying her face in his shirt. Robert knew now what Guang had meant by guidance and security. Putting his arms around her he whispered, "Ever." to her. "Promise?" she asked looking up to see his eyes. Looking into the glowing scared grey eyes of his girlfriend, he felt something in him stir. A need to keep her safe? A want to be close to her? He couldn't quite put his finger on the feelings he felt for the scared woman in his arms, but he was able to say with all honesty, "Promise."

**To be continued…**


	9. Chapter 9 New Experience, Old Lessons

**Chapter 9 – New Experience, Old Lessons**

Waking up in someone else's bed is strange enough, but not remembering why you were there in the first place is frightening. Yuffie had no idea why she was in Robert's room until her memories came back to her all at once. The restaurant, the gun pointed right at her, and the new guy Cid. An idea suddenly popped into her head and she threw the covers off of her. She was still in yesterday's cloths, minus the shoes. Turning to her right she noticed the bed was empty except for her, looking around the room she searched for her boyfriend unsuccessfully. Then she smelled it, the sweet aroma of eggs and something else cooking. She quickly pulled herself out of bed and ran to see if Robert was in the kitchen. There he was scrambling eggs and stirring in some other ingredients to flavor them. To his right she saw some hot flour tortillas and orange juice. This time he turned to her and asked, "You feeling ok Yuffie?" "I am. Thanks for asking." She said as she walked up to him and gave him a very appreciative hug. "Hey you two are up before me." they heard from behind. James looked worse for wear without looking sick. His hair suck out everywhere and he had half laden eyes suggesting he just woke up. For pajamas he had on some kind of camouflage cotton pants and wore a green wife beater shirt. Yuffie couldn't help herself; she had to make a comment about his getup, "Trying to blend into the night?" Looking down at his pants, James understood her remark. "All the better to get you my pretty." He said looking up at her and making pretend that he had a knife in his hand. Yuffie just smiled at him taking the challenge head on. She was glad to feel more like her old self instead of the scared little girl she was last night. "You have to get up pretty early to get one over on me." she said. "James just smiled and said, "You mean before noon?" "Ha, ha. Very funny." She said. "You guys have fun with this don't you?" Robert asked interrupting the spat. "He just likes picking on me so I pick on him back." She answered, finally forgetting the feeling of looking down the barrel of a gun. Robert laughed; it started out as a chuckle and grew until he couldn't contain it at all. Settling down he said, "Well I'm glad you're feeling better Yuffie, I like it better when you smile." Blushing furiously, Yuffie shyly said, "Thank you."

After breakfast, she decided to take a shower. A long shower, she let the hot water relax her thoroughly and massaging the stress from yesterday until it disappeared. Yet she still didn't feel like getting out. Just enjoying the relaxing shower she never heard Robert's questions. Outside the shower room, Robert was getting very worried, he had asked her three times if she was done, and another two times if she was alright. Checking the door he found it unlocked, worried for her he opened the door and poked his head in to see if she was alright. Not seeing her yet seeing the steam from the shower still spilling out the top of the shower door, he walked in and called out, "Yuffie are you alright?" Still no answer, so he hoped for the best and expected the worst at the same time, he ventured further into the shower room. Turning the corner he found Yuffie, standing there letting the water run over her and wash away her worries. Sensing someone nearby, Yuffie opened her eyes and turned her head to see her boyfriend starring at her naked form, both blushing feverishly. Snapping out of her shock, Yuffie screamed, and Robert ran out of the room and shut the door behind him. "Why didn't you knock?" she shouted, "I did knock and call for you but you never answered" he quickly answered. "You weren't loud enough." She said from behind the door. "I opened the shower room door and called out, you just weren't listening." He said back to her. Staying quiet for a few seconds, she calmed down and said, "Well, ok. I'll let it slide this time." Robert began to calm down as well, "Ok. Thanks for not killing me Yuffie." "No problem." She said, "We're even now." "Even? What are we even about?" Robert asked curiously. Yuffie eeped once and began to panic a little. "Well, uh, um," she stuttered trying to think of anything to excuse herself from telling Robert about her accidental peep show of him. "Yuffie!" he said sternly, she came up with a stall, "Where's James?" "In the shop, now how are we even?" he asked stopping the stall in its tracks. Out of ideas, Yuffie had to make sure, "Promise not to get mad?" she asked. "Why would I get mad?" Robert asked in confusion, "Just promise." Yuffie insisted. "Alright, alright I promise. Now what is it?" he said giving in. "I saw you naked." she said quickly. "What, when?" not quick enough. "Yesterday before the date, you left your door open a crack while you were getting dressed." She admitted. Silence was not golden in this case; Yuffie was scared out of her wits that Robert may be angry with her and kick her out of the house. Her worries were turned to shock when he finally spoke. "So that's why you were so stand offish in the beginning. Huh." Listening intently she heard a question she thought she'd never hear. "Your birthday's next Saturday, right?" "How did you know that?" she asked. "Guang told me." Robert admitted. "What else did he say?" she asked. Robert hesitated a little, he never liked lying, and that is why he tried to stay out of situations like this. It was either tell her the truth or lie to her and hope to heaven he did it right. His heart told him to tell the truth but his head said she would run away and to lie. One thing about Robert, he always followed his heart, "He told me to ask for your hand in marriage as a birthday present." Yuffie's breath hitched in her throat, she couldn't speak for the longest time and she knew why. If she said yes, she would have all the shelter, security and comfort she needed and wanted. But if it didn't work out, she would be miserable the rest of her life. "I thought so." She heard Robert say. "It's ok Yuffie. Sorry for telling you." Now she found herself wondering why she wouldn't speak at all. She wanted to say something, anything, but her mouth wouldn't move when she told it to. Listening as her boyfriend walked away with what sounded like a sad disappointment in his step, she finally found the strength to talk, but only after he was out of earshot. "Why not now?" she whispered to herself, looking down and dropping to her knees to cry silently.

Talking to Tiffa was one of the best ideas she ever had, especially on a subject like marriage. "…and then he just sadly walked away. I know I screwed up royally, but what do I do now?" she asked finishing her story. Yuffie had used the fastest way she knew to talk to the woman, she called the house Tiffa was staying at. On the other line Tiffa was listening intently to Yuffie's story but got distracted from answering, "RED THIRTEEN YOU STOP CHASING CAIT SITH AND CALM DOWN. I'm sorry Yuffie; Red ate some of Barret's powdered sugar doughnuts. Anyway, what did you want to say? Yes or no?" "YES, oh definitely yes…I think." The girl said. "Honey, your outburst says it all. Now why did you want to say yes?" Tiffa continued, however before Yuffie had a chance to answer, she heard Tiffa yelling again, "RED, DAMNIT GO OUT SIDE AND PLAY. I'M ON THE PHONE." "Oh, Tiffa said a bad word." said the hyperactive fox cub. Yuffie decided to answer before Tiffa killed the young fox. "I'm not really sure, I'd be set with the money and the house." She said. "Deer, you already are set with that and you know it." Tiffa scolded. "I'd finally have the security and attention I always wanted." Yuffie explained. Tiffa scoffed and said, "You have friends and Robert would protect you anyway, it's his nature." Tiffa said making it sound like no big deal. "No, he seems different around me." Yuffie said. "Yah, how so?" Tiffa asked knowing she was breaking ground. "He just is. I can't explain it. He's just so focused, and when I got hurt, he went ballistic, like it was the one thing he never wanted to see." Yuffie said beginning to daydream. "Go on." Tiffa encouraged. "And on our date, he did what I wanted to do without complaining once. Also when Kueng was arrested after pointing that gun at me, he comforted me and never left, he made me feel safe." Tiffa almost missed that last part, "Uh huh… what?" "Tiffa…I think I'm in love." Yuffie said, "I'm in love with Cloud. I'm in **love **with Robert." as she spoke, things became clear to her and as she admitted her feelings, she could feel them grow rapidly filling her heart and easing her sorrows, she felt great. "Thanks Tiffa. You're the best. Call you later with the news. Bye." She said. Just as Yuffie hung up the phone Tiffa called out, "Wait, when did you…" but never finished, Yuffie hung up and went to look for her boyfriend. Down stairs in the game shop, Yuffie found James dealing with a customer, but was in too much of a hurry to care, "James do you know where Cloud went? I can't find him anywhere." She said. Apparently James was mad at her. "After you rejected him, he left to clear his head." "I never rejected him, I just couldn't talk. I was in too much shock." She admitted. "And now?" he asked. "I want to tell him 'yes' duffus." she said in a huff. James' eyes went wide, "Oh, well he went right, and after that I don't know." Finally having a direction to go she said "Thanks James." as she ran out the door as fast as she could.

Robert's spirits could be considered nonexistent at this time, everyone that passed by him could tell, it was like he lost his best friend. Yuffie rejecting him was like taking a knife to the heart and watching it twist inside him. His depression worsened when he saw a young couple about his and Yuffie's age, the man kneeled sown in front of the girl holding out a ring box. The girl had a very different reaction than Yuffie did, she basically threw herself at her lover and wrapped her arms around him, and everyone could hear her cry of 'YES'. Robert couldn't watch any more. Lowering his eyes, he continued to walk for another thirty minutes before he came face to face with another person. Kueng stood there with a smirk on his face and a glow in his green cat-like eyes. "Miss me yet Cloud?" he said to him. "Kueng? What are you doing here?" Kueng lowered his eyes and said in an eerily calm and familiar voice, "Sorry Cloud, but Kueng needs a time out." Black mist came from his back, spreading across his body, changing it from short black hair to long silver hair; Sephiroth emerged from the mist and held the Masamune up to his eye level. "Sephiroth." Robert said as he Mako shifted, holding the buster sword out in front of him. "Isn't it wonderful Cloud? The two of us can come back as often as we wish, as long as there are those who are Mako Infused on this planet. You and I can now fight forever if we wish." Sephiroth began to gloat. "I already told you, I'm Robert, not Cloud." He said, just before Sephiroth lunged at him. Sephiroth's strike was far harder than he expected and it sent him careening toward one of the nearby buildings. Crashing through the wall, he just lay there trying to figure out what just happened. "Come Cloud, this is no time to shop." Sephiroth taunted. Getting up to his feet, Robert heard the silver haired man walk in his direction. Robert moved silently towards the opposite wall, trying to find an exit or someplace he could hide. Suddenly, he found himself suspended in nothingness. Just a vast white nothing. "This has never happened before." He whispered. "That's because you've never needed a pep talk before." A strange man's voice said from behind him. The voice was monotone and somewhat familiar to him. Turning around Robert saw a man about his height, with a sharp face and blond spiky hair that stuck out just about everywhere. He wore a black cotton sleeveless zip up shirt which he only zipped up until his color bone. The pants he wore were black and baggy, the bottoms were held up by a strap attached to the front of the pants themselves and covered black combat boots. On his left shoulder he wore a black shoulder guard with the figure of a lion's head attached to it as well as a single wide sleeve. The harness on his back looked like it was supposed to hold six different swords all at once. The scowl on the man's perfect face told Robert this man was not happy and his shining blue eyes had a bit of anger in them.

"I know you, you were training me in my dream." Robert said. "And you can't just run away from him. Why won't you fight?" the man said crossing his arms. "My head just isn't in it." Robert said. "This thing with your girlfriend?" the man asked. Robert looked down and said, "Yah." "I wish I had some advice to give you. You're just going to have to get over it I guess." The blond suggested. "Easier said than done." Robert reminded the man. "Then again she never did say 'no' did she?" the blond said smiling. As soon as he said that, everything went back to the way it was. Robert turned around to see Sephiroth spying his escape, and lunge at him. Putting the Buster Sword up to block, he once again found himself going through a wall and out through the other side of the store. Standing up a little faster he readied himself for the fight he knew was coming. As Sephiroth walked, he slashed and destroyed everything that was in his way, almost like he was showing off. The madman stopped in front of Robert, a few feet short of Masamune length. "You always beat me, every time I came to take the world and give it to mother, the rightful ruler, and I hated that." Robert remembered that line clearly, "Wait, Kueng used that line when he talked to Yuffie." "Ah Yuffie. So where is the little girl at anyway?" Sephiroth asked. Looking down, Robert felt his depression returning. Sephiroth chuckled a little, but before he could say anything, something hit him in the back of the head. Turning around with his long hair moving as if the wind, Sephiroth searched for his offender. All around him were nothing but buildings and signs, nothing out of the ordinary. "I'm right here." they heard Yuffie shout, her voice echoed from everywhere all at once, making it impossible to find her. "Quit playing games, girl." Shouted the silver haired swordsman. "Oh this is no game Sephiroth." They heard as her shurikan flew out of nowhere at him. Sephiroth dodged skillfully, back flipping over the flying weapon and watched as it traveled to a different spot and disappeared behind a building. The madman simply leapt to the building in front of him and smirched for the ninja and her hiding spot. Instead he found the shurikan flying at him again. Using the Masamune, he knocked the spinning weapon away effortlessly. "This is getting tiring Yuffie. Just show yourself and I'll make this quick, you couldn't beat me last time and you won't win this time." Sephiroth announced. "You sound more like Kueng than Sephiroth." she yelled from behind him. Spinning around, Sephiroth spotted her as she disappeared from sight behind the edge of the building he stood on top of.

On the ground level, Yuffie ran up to cloud and grabbed him by his left arm pulling at him to hide. "He won't fall for that trick long, let's get out of here." "No way. I'm going to fight, I have to." Robert said. "Why do you have to stay Cloud, Why can't we just run away now and get married next Saturday?" she asked with panic in her voice. Robert thought he heard her wrong, "Wait does that mean…?" "Yes. Cloud. It means I want to get married, but only to you." She said honesty and love filling her every word. "How touching. I may want to puke later." They heard from behind them. Turning around, Robert saw Sephiroth as he floated down to the ground. Readying the Buster sword, Robert stood his ground. "Your fiancé is quite the annoying one isn't she?" Sephiroth asked. "You won't lay a finger on her, I won't let last time be repeated." Robert called out. Sephiroth huffed and charged at him intending on knocking him away and letting him know just how powerless he was. Robert charged as well and when the two swords clashed, it was Sephiroth who was knocked back instead. Skidding to a stop, Sephiroth looked up to see Robert's eyes glowing again, just like last time. "Limit Break? This is getting redundant." When Robert charged this time his speed was astonishing. Before Sephiroth even had a chance to completely stand, Robert was on him and in mid swing of the Buster Sword, he looked like a blur of blue light. Sephiroth brought his Masamune up and blocked the strike, watching as Robert switched directions with amazing speed and accuracy. Sliding back about twenty feet while standing, Sephiroth opened his eyes to watch as Robert moved around to his left and attacked, Sephiroth swung the Masamune in Robert's direction, and the two ended in a stale mate. Vying for dominance the two warriors pushed against each other, attempting to overpower the other. "Were does this strength come from, Cloud?" Sephiroth grunted. "I told you, I'm not Cloud." Robert said before Pushing the Masamune out of the way and spinning around horizontally. The attack was unexpected to say the least, Robert continued his slash, bringing it high above his head, and bringing it down with as much force as he could. Sephiroth stepped back in pain, and Robert moved his sword to the right, coming across Sephiroth's midsection in the attack and swung back to his left. Sephiroth backed up slowly as he began to fade into his black mist. "This time you win Cloud, but I'm not through yet. I'll be back and I'll defeat you then." When the mist disappeared, Robert saw something he never wished to see again, Kueng was lying in his place dead, blood beginning to pool around him.

**To be continued…**


	10. Chapter 10  New Fights, Old Wars

**Chapter 10 – New Fights, Old Wars**

The investigation that took place was the same as the others. First the police arrived at the scene and accused them of everything from murder to conspiracy. It was only when MH4 arrived that they had any actual relief. "Well you two seem to be the best thing to ever happen to my job." Captain Thalwald joked as he walked up to the two. "Hey, this is my case Thalwald, leave it to the professionals." The Lieutenant of the police said. "When I see one I will, now move aside." The captain said showing his badge. "Listen, it's a simple case of murder, no Mako involved. So you're out of your jurisdiction." The lieutenant said. "Actually that man Mako Shifted into Sephiroth, and Sephiroth said something about using the Mako infused to come back again and again." Robert interrupted. "Well there you have it. A suspicion of Mako used in a crime. Looks like I just entered my jurisdiction and you just left yours. Please leave lieutenant." Thalwald said sternly. The lieutenant growled loudly in a growing anger, but left quietly none the less. As soon as he exited the barrier tape, Thalwald signaled his men to come in and take over. Turning to the couple, he asked, "What the hell is Mako Shifting?" It took a few hours to explain what the Mako Shift actually was, as well as give each side of their stories. By the time they were finished, Captain Thalwald was very concerned. "This Sephiroth guy, he uses those who are Mako Infused to come back to life and you keep stopping him from basically killing everyone." "That's the story, at least what I know of it." Robert said. Before Thalwald could even attempted to call a bluff, one of the forensics field scientists came up to him and whispered something in his ear. The look of shock could be seen on his face for only a few seconds before it returned to normal. When the scientist walked away, Thalwald looked at the two and said, "Looks like you were telling the truth kid, the blood we tested came up positive for Mako. It's so strong that it hast to be recent exposure, and could be deliberate. We'll keep looking into this. You two can go home and we'll let you know when anything pops up." "Thanks Capitan, you're a gentleman and a scholar." Yuffie said in relief, letting all of her pent up stress just wash away. As the two of them left the grounds the Lieutenant walked up to them, an angry scowl on his face, "So he's letting you two go again huh?" he asked. "I guess so. He said we could go home." Yuffie said honestly. "I still say you two are guilty. I can't prove it yet, but I will. You guys have to slip up some time, and when you do, I'll be there to slap the cuffs on you." he warned and then turned around and stomped away. Robert stood there shocked, and said, "I don't think he likes us."

As they entered the door to the shop, James decided to jump out of nowhere, "OOGA BOOGA!" he yelled sticking out his tongue and putting his hands up against his ears. Both Robert and Yuffie screamed out right and nearly toppled down the stairs. "There is seriously something wrong with you!" Yuffie yelled as she chased him through the store. "Yah I know that, and its name is Yuffie." He retorted. As Robert listened to their spats he began to think, this is his life now, and his twin brother James is going to make one heck of a Best Man. Smiling to himself, he decided to get back at James in his own way, "Hey James, wanna be the Best Man?" he blurted out as James was going to take a turn around a shelf to keep Yuffie off of his back. His plan worked like a charm, James miss-stepped and nearly slid to a stop, right before Yuffie tackled him to the ground. "OW, get off of me Yuffie." James complained. Yuffie now had James in a half nelson head lock, craning his left arm nearly above his head and the other arm around his neck. "No way dweeb, you're too dangerous to be left alone." Yuffie retorted. Looking at his brother the best he could, James complained even more, "You did that on purpose." Robert only smiled and walked toward the door leading inside the house. Dropping James to the ground, Yuffie called out to him, "Wait for me Cloud." as she took off after him. James just sat there gasping for air. When he finally got his breathing under control, he said, "Those two were made for each other, they're both crazy." Inside the house Yuffie immediately called Tiffa to tell her about the news. "Hi this is Tiffa." The woman said officially. "It's ok, I found him." The girl spouted out. "YUFFIE, thank goodness you're ok." Tiffa gasped in relief. "Were getting married Tiffa, next Saturday for my birthday." Yuffie couldn't hold it in, she squealed so loud and shrill that Tiffa had to remove the phone from her ear and make sure her eardrum was still in one piece. Placing the phone back to her ear, Tiffa made a realization, "That only gives us a week to prepare." "I know but if anyone can do it, we can. Besides it's going to be a small wedding anyway." Yuffie announced as she literally bounced up and down in her seat. In the other room, Robert was having his own conversation. Listening to his cell phone ring until the person he was calling picked up. "This is Cid, who is it?" The fisherman asked. "It's me Robert, or Cloud as you guys call me." Robert said smiling to himself. Cid perked up a little and his voice showed it, "Hey there kid, need my help already?" "No not this time Cid, I was actually calling to tell you that Yuffie and I will be getting married on Saturday of next week and we'd like to invite you." Robert said as he looked around a little nervous. "MARRIED? Well hell sign me up, I'll even bring my wife with me. She likes this kind of thing. Need help with the food?" Robert's surprise was the only thing a person could here, "You're married?" "Hey, watch it kid, that sounded like an insult." Cid said trying to get Robert to sweat a little. "Sorry Cid I didn't mean that." Robert apologized. "That's alright kid I'm just yankin your chain, so what about that food?" Cid asked. "As long as you don't overdo the fish it's fine with me." Robert allowed. "Nice try kid but it will be my wife that makes the food. Don't you worry about it; she'll make the best wedding food you'll ever taste." Cid laughed. "Thanks Cid by." As Robert hung up the phone he suddenly found himself in the same white world as before, when he was running away from Sephiroth. "Are we invited to?" he heard a soft female voice call out. Turning around, he saw thirteen people standing in a group. The blond swordsman stood to the right, almost as if he were trying to separate himself from the group without it being obvious. Noticing the others from right to left, he saw a tall busty girl with long black hair wearing a black leather top and black leather skirt. Next to her he saw a girl that looked similar to Yuffie except her clothes were all black with a white floral pattern on her tank top. The man standing a little ways from her was a pilot who had a white shirt and a kind of large yellow cotton belt. A woman wearing a white lab coat was cradled in his left arm and leaned her head on his shoulder. A dark skinned burly man with a mechanical right arm standing next to two kids, a boy and a girl, and a man wearing a tattered red cloak, stood next to each other like best friends. The red wolf like creature didn't seem to mind that he had a three year old- sized black and white cat wearing a crown and red cape sitting on his head. On the end of the group there was a man wearing a cotton sleeveless turtleneck and baggy black pants tucked into brown leather combat boots, his black hair was long, pulled back and spiked out towards his back. The girl to his right was very beautiful, her auburn hair glistened and brought out her emerald green eyes, the pink dress she wore covered by the short maroon jacket hugged her slim figure perfectly.

"It's you, isn't it?" Robert said softly. "What is?" the man with the black hair asked. "The power, the Mako, it all belonged to you, didn't it?" Robert asked in thought. "Sephiroth was created on our world, using the Life Stream and Jenova cells. I'm sorry we couldn't stop him from coming to this world." The blond said solemnly. "Jenova? Is that why his Mako Shift is different than mine?" Robert asked. "Yes it is. Jenova was a kind monster on our planet. We were lucky it couldn't make its way to yours." The man in the red cloak said. "Who are you anyway?" Robert asked. The blond warrior walked up to him, looked him in the eyes and said, "We are AVILANCH, the original heroes of our planet. We are the old you." "And where is this?" Robert asked wide eyed. The soldier just smiled and said, "The promised land." With that Robert found himself back in the living room of his house. Baffled at the new information, Robert walked away deciding he needed rest.

Back in the promised land, the old Yuffie was trying to gag herself before saying, "Why did he have to pick the new Yuffie instead of Tiffa? I mean, I'm marrying CLOUD." "And what's wrong with that? Besides the new me was already married to the new Barret by the time he got there." Tiffa said. "Ever heard of DIVORCE?" the youngest said. "That's just not right ya brat." Cid exclaimed while holding tightly to the woman next to him. "Still, I'm more of a Vincent kind of girl anyway." Yuffie blurted out. Lifting his head the man in the red cloak looked at Yuffie with a cold stare, not saying a word. "Never mind." Yuffie said blushing.

**To be continued…**


	11. Chapter 11 New Race, Old Prize

**Chapter 11 – New Race, Old Prize**

As morning arose to greet the new day, Yuffie awoke to the light of the sun. Grabbing her covers, she turned and placed them over her head to continue the peaceful dream she was having. As memories flooded her mind from yesterday, she suddenly opened her eyes in shock and jumped out of bed. Rushing to get dressed, she quickly put on a dark green t-shirt with a light green sweater, and formfitting blue jeans. Slipping on her green tennis shoes she ran down stairs to meet breakfast and her fiancé. Instead she saw her soon to be brother-in-law eating a plane bowl of what looked like cheerios. "Where's Cloud?" she asked. "Out getting you a surprise." James said nonchalantly, scooping some cereal and shoving it into his mouth. "What kind of surprise?" she asked. "Didn't say." He responded. "Well you're a lot of help." She said indignantly.

Robert stood there staring at the case in front of him. He'd never done this before and he still had no way of knowing what to do. A jewelry shop was defiantly not on his list of places frequently visited, even if he could easily pay for anything in the place. "May I help you?" the clerk said finally getting to him. "Uh yes I was trying to find the perfect wedding rings for me and my fiancé." He answered still unsure of himself. "Wonderful, and congratulations." The clerk said. Directing him over to a different case entirely, she then began to explain the different types of rings. He finally decided on two rings both with a platinum band and a rare blue diamond set into the actual ring, one for him and one for Yuffie. Looking back at the case he stood at before, he had to ask, "What about the rings in that case?" "Oh, those are engagement rings." The clerk said matter-of-factly. Then she looked at Robert with a skeptical look, "You did buy her an engagement ring didn't you?" Looking at the floor, Robert hesitated a little, "Well, no not really." A type of shock placed itself on the clerks face, "Really? That's not good. You definitely need to get her one and propose the right way." "There's a right way?" he asked surprised. "Oh yah," she said, "You have to get on one of your knees, and ask romantically if she'll marry you, while presenting a beautiful ring to her." She explained dreamily. "OK, which one should I get her?" he asked cautiously. The clerk looked at him like he had two heads. "Just get one that you think represents her the most." She said. "That's a difficult decision." He admitted looking at all the choices. Suddenly he spotted one, the band was silver and looked like two woven strings and the knot was topped by a rather large emerald. It was perfect. "That one." He said pointing to the ring. Looking at the strange ring, the clerk smiled and pulled it out of the case. She moved to the back of the store with the piece of jewelry in hand. When she returned, she clutched a small square maroon colored velvet case no bigger than a golf ball. Setting the case on the counter, she brought the ring out and placed it inside, and then she rang it up. Robert happily paid for the engagement ring, knowing with all his soul Yuffie would like it. As he approached the door, he suddenly heard a siren off in the distance. "What is that?" he asked. "Oh, just MH2 making their annual checks for Mako related crimes." The clerk said seeing no big deal. Robert turned around and sped out the door quickly, and hopped aboard the black and blue Harley Davidson he confiscated from his rescue of his fiancé. Again the machine transformed with the wisps of green energy that came from his hands and traveled down the bike. As he sped away, the shop clerk stared at him in aw, "What in the…?"

Moving down the road at high speeds proved difficult, with rush hour at full bloom. And each time he slowed down he heard the roar and the sirens of MH2 get closer. Turning around to check the distance between him and the Hunters, he saw several of them aiming their guns at him, in view of the public. Before anyone could get a shot off, Robert swerved into a side street trying his best to keep others from getting shot. As soon as he turned the gun fight began, MH2 fired at him without reason and without warning. Mako shifting on the Motorcycle, Robert used the Buster sword as a shield, using his left hand to place it on his back to deflect bullets. "These guys are crazy." He said. Suddenly the shower of bullets stopped. Turning his head he noticed several motorcycle chase units catching up to him. "Oh great." He sighed. As soon as the motorcycles caught up to him, he swung his sword at the rider, trying desperately to scare the person away from him. Al the riders looked the same to him, black tinted helmets, tight black leather cloths. The only way to tell if the riders were male or female was by the curves. As predicted, the rider ducked the strike but didn't back off, instead he pointed his pistol straight at Robert's head. Before the man could pull the trigger, Robert came back and used the bladed part of the sword to cut strait through the back wheel. "Sorry." He yelled as he watched the man take a tumble. Each time another rider came up to him, it would be the same thing, he would try to scare them and end up destroying either the front or the back wheel, being extra careful around the women. Turning off of the current street and onto the highway, he came face to face with a large armored vehicle, and several MH2 soldiers sticking their guns out of the windows and back. The soldiers all had on black militaristic uniforms and at the moment all looked like men. All at once, every one fired off their guns. Swerving back and forth, Robert used his sword to deflect and block bullets. 'What do they want with me?' he thought to himself. Over the constant gun fire, Robert could hear one of the men shout, "Keep firing men, and don't let the monster escape." "They think I'm a monster?" he said out loud. Swerving to the right of the MH 2 vehicle, Robert Took a swing at the back tire of the truck, and got shot in the left leg. The truck spun in the same direction as him, nearly smashing into him and his motorcycle. Hitting the breaks, Robert pulled behind the large vehicle as it swerved past him and into the side wall of the highway. With the coast clear Robert used his de-shifted his sword and grabbed his left leg to keep the bleeding to a minimum.

The armored truck just sat there until the front passenger door threw itself open, and the occupant exited the vehicle. The man was well built, with balding short grey hair, and a full goatee. The black military uniform he wore was decorated with many badges and metals of honor. Sneering at the retreating figure he whispered, "We'll find you again, and terminate you."

Arriving back at home, Robert parked his motorcycle and when he got off of it, it changed back to the black and blue Harley. Walking up the stairs and into the shop door, He first met his twin brother James, who as usual had something to say, "You're an idiot you know that?" "Not in the mood James." He responded, still clutching his wounded leg. "What the hell?" James exclaimed, as he literally jumped the counter to help his brother. "MH2 did a surprise sweep of the area, chased me down several streets and shot at me." "And hit you apparently." James said looking at the wound. "Is Yuffie here?" Robert asked with a worried look on his face. "You just missed her. Tiffa came by and kidnapped your fiancé to go dress and decoration shopping. Barret and Vincent are in charge of getting the pastor." James said informing his twin of the recent events. Robert gave a big sigh of relief before saying, "Good, I don't want her to worry. Now, could you help me get this bullet out of my leg?"

"Tiffa, when you kidnap someone to go shopping you don't actually need to tie them up." Yuffie said with a playful frown on her face. Tiffa just laughed at her own joke, "I thought it would make it a bit more authentic." She said as an excuse, and then continued laughing as she drove to the mall. "Besides you wouldn't have come to meet them if you weren't." "Do I really have to meet your friends?" Yuffie asked getting really nervous; she had a very bad feeling that things were going to get really out of hand. "Yes Yuffie. They are all going to be bride's maids. Therefore they need to meet you and you need to meet them." Tiffa explained. "But I'm getting married on Saturday." Yuffie complained. "That's why we need to get things rolling now." Tiffa argued as she parked the car. As Tiffa exited the vehicle, she was swarmed by five different girls all at once, each one screaming and squealing in excitement. Each one talked at light speeds and the only things Yuffie could understand were, "Long time no see", "How's the hubby" and "What happened to your eyes". Other than that, it was all a jumble of talking hyperactive voices. Suddenly her door flew open and she was yanked from the car by Tiffa herself, "Girls this is Yuffie, Yuffie these are my best friends." "Uh… Hi?" she said questioningly nervous. All five of the girls screamed with joy and flocked the poor girl, quickly untying her after surrounding her. Talk of how adorable Yuffie was and how pretty she would look in white passed around her ears and before she knew it, she was being dragged into the mall by her arms. Shopping for her wedding dress was actually easier than she thought, despite all of the other girls trying to get her to look at three different dresses at the same time. However none of them really stood out to her, and she was looking for that one dress that would really make her look beautiful. After hours of searching for the perfect dress, Yuffie was just about to give up. Don't worry Yuffie, You'll find one." Tiffa said trying to encourage her friend. "Easy for you to say, you and your friends all have your bride's maid dresses. It's the bride that's out of the loop." Yuffie said right before she looked up. In the window of the last brides dress shop of the entire mall she found the dress she wanted. It was a simple design, the dress was supposed to hug the hips of its wearer, and the hang off of the shoulders with fluffy straps. The lower part of the dress was several layers of white fabric, making the dress seem fluffier than it really was. The top of the dress is what caught her eye the thick white fabric was lined with sparkly green beads the shimmered in the light making it almost look like it was Mako Shifting all by itself, and had long white gloves to go with it. "Tiffa," Yuffie said in a whisper. Then she smiled and said ""That's the dress I'm getting married in."

**To be continued…**


	12. Chapter 12 New Colors, Old Shades

**Chapter 12 – New Colors, Old Shades**

Robert knew his life would change the moment she walked through the door that day. The smile on her face told him so. "Hey there handsome." Yuffie said patting him on the cheek as she walked by. "Uh, yah, so what's up?" he asked still in slight pain from the shot to his leg, but he hid it well. "I got my dress." She announced grabbing a cup and filling it with milk. "That's great." Robert said. Yuffie sat down next to her fiancé and said, "Tiffa's going to pick it up when it's finished. So how was your day?" as she spoke, Robert shifted a little, sliding to the floor and kneeling down on an attempt to keep the pain to a minimum. His leg was healing quickly but it still hurt. Pulling out the engagement ring he bought for her, Robert brought it up and opened the velvet case and said, "I just figured that I'd do this the right way. Yuffie, will you marry me?" The moment Yuffie laid her eyes on the ring, her breath hitched in her throat and she dropped her cup of milk, bringing her hands to her mouth. Suddenly an excitement quickly built up in her veins, and she threw her arms around him saying, "YES." digging her knee into his wound. Robert cringed loudly as the unexpected pain shot through him. The first thing Yuffie thought was that she had hurt him with her hug, but she noticed him gripping his leg. "Cloud what happened?" Robert knew she would find out, he just wished it had been less painful. "MH2 made a surprise sweep of the area I was in. I led them down empty streets and they shot at me. I didn't want you to worry." Yuffie grabbed him by the cheeks with both hands and made him look at her, "I'm going to worry more if you don't tell me." she said. "Sorry." He said his mouth squished between her hands. Releasing him from her grasp, Yuffie thought of an idea, "We're going to live with each other, right. So I won't keep secrets from you as long as you don't keep secrets from me. Deal?" she asked pointing her open right hand at her fiancé. Robert looked at the open invitation, thought about it fare a short while and gripped her hand with his, "Deal." He agreed. James just stood there flabbergasted at how quickly the two of them got along, "Maybe their marriage will last more than a month." He whispered to himself.

The morning brought Robert comfort; the sun's rays warmed his skin where it touched and roused him from his slumber peacefully. Stretching out his muscles and removing the sleep from last night, Robert gazes around his room. From the bed to the walls to the door, he realized he would be sharing it with Yuffie in just five days time. Though somehow, he didn't mind at all. It wasn't until he heard a crashing sound come from Yuffie's room that he removed himself from his daydreams. Jumping out of bed in just pajama bottoms, he ran toward the noise as fast as he could. By the time he reached her room, he could hear her call out to him, "CLOUD HELP!" and then it all went silent. Robert burst through her door, only to find her and her kidnapper gone. Her room was in complete disarray, cloths tossed everywhere and he dresser turned on its side, even her bed was tossed across the room. The only testament to the escape was the fact that the window was wide open. Running to the window, Robert stuck his head out and called, "YUFFIE?" looking left, he called again, "YUFFIE?" looking right, again, "YUFFIE?" Finding nothing, he slammed his fist against the window sill. "Damnit." He swore. "You should have followed the old ways." He heard from above him. Looking up he saw the one person he never wanted to see, Sephiroth. "What did you do to Yuffie?" Robert accused. "You should be more worried about finding Aerith." Sephiroth responded just floating there. "Who? I just want her back, now give her back." Robert pleaded. Sephiroth scoffed and sternly scolded the boy, "You should let your past repeat itself, Aerith is and always will be your love Cloud. Don't try to throw me off." "Who's trying to throw you off? I'm not Cloud." Robert tried to reason. "ENOUGH!" Sephiroth shouted, "You have three hours to find her at the place these people call Atlantis. You will find her there as well as a familiar scene. I wish it were really Aerith, but you're the one who twisted reality. Three hours Cloud If you're not there, she will die." And with that, the villain flew away to the west. Robert ran as fast as he could to get his motorcycle, running by his brother on the way, "Wow where's the fire?" James asked. "Yuffie's been kidnapped by Sephiroth, I'm going to the Atlantis Island Casino to get her back." As the door to the shop closed, James made a little observation, "Lucky bum, get's to risk it all for a girl."

Robert made his way through town moving as fast as his motorcycle would go. Swerving through traffic quickly going back and forth through the lanes, he suddenly found himself in the white world again, stopping with a jolt and without his motorcycle. Robert stood up and heard his voice again, the real Cloud, "This isn't like him at all you know. He's usually calm, and hiding a dark purpose. But this time he seemed disturbed by the fact that you fell in love with the new Yuffie." "Yah, I know. What's really weird is when he made himself out of Kueng; he kind of had his personality to." Robert pointed out calmly. "I think Sephiroth takes the dominant part of the personality of the person he shifts from. In this case a purist, because he's so adamant about the old being better than the new." Cloud scoffed a little before continuing, "The situation he most likely will put you through, is how he killed our Aerith. He will try to control you, and end up coming down from the ceiling and putting the Masamune through her." "I won't let that happen." Robert said as he focused for his task. "I'm sure you won't." Cloud said right before Robert snapped back to reality. Looking up The guard saw the exit he needed to take come up quickly, and he turned onto the ramp. Only a few minutes later he saw the casino, and strangely everyone was standing outside in the parking lot. Atlantis Island Casino was a large place, having a small Island to call its own. It was the largest and most popular casino in the world. The ivory pillars and golden walls made the place look very expensive and ritzy, yet it was open to all the public. 'So why is everyone out side?' Robert thought as he neared the entrance. "Sorry sir, some crazy nut went inside and kicked every one out." Someone said to him. "Did he have a girl hostage?" Robert asked the man. "Yah it looked like it." The man responded. Robert took off like a shot, leaping over every one and landing beyond the barrier. Quickly he Mako Shifted, not caring who saw him, and then with sword in hand entered the building cautiously to find his fiancé. "Welcome Cloud." He heard over the intercom, "So nice of you to arrive. You must be tired after that long trip. Please sit down." When he refused to sit, the voice over the intercom continued, "No? Too bad, I was hoping for a little fun before we started our little game." Suddenly the lights turned off and a spotlight shined on Sephiroth, holding a glass of whiskey and a microphone, sitting at the bar. "You brought me here for a different reason, not to chat and have a drink, besides I don't drink alcohol." Robert said waving the Buster sword in Sephiroth's direction like it was his hand. "Hm. Pity." Sephiroth said before downing the entire glass. "Because I'm very good at drinking alcohol." Robert walked towards the villain and asked, "Where is she?" sternly. Suddenly he heard a ringing noise in his head, a ringing that only got louder. Dropping the Buster sword to the ground, Robert clutched his ears with both hands and dropped to his knees. The feeling running through him was definitely something new, and it felt like it was fighting him for control. "Do you remember what you really are yet Cloud?" Sephiroth asked with a sick grin. Quickly the madman closed the gap between them and whispered into Robert's ear, "You're nothing but a puppet." Right before he blacked out.

The world he was in now was like a map of his home, quickly leading from one place to another by means of a single island platform in the middle. Standing in front of him with his back turned was Sephiroth. Looking to the right he noticed the old suburban home he lived in till he was seventeen, the one given to him by his father. To the left he noticed his first job, a pizza delivery boy. Behind him he saw the home he lived in now complete with game shop. "This is all wrong." He heard Sephiroth say. "It s not supposed to be like this, where's the old world?" Robert stood up from his place on the floor, and picked up his sword. "I wouldn't know what your world even looked like." He said putting his sword in front of him. Sephiroth turned around quickly and put the Masamune up to his eyelevel, gripping the handle with both hands. "Even so you're still my puppet." He said before charging at Robert. Robert brought the Buster sword up and blocked the strike, holding steady the guard kept his footing and turned his body to come back with a circling cut. Sephiroth jumped into the air and swung his sword wildly, creating air blades that made their way to Robert. Using the giant sword in his hands, Robert swung at and dissolved all of the blades before they could hit him. Sephiroth scoffed and charged again in mid air, hoping to knock his opponent off balance. When their swords clashed, it was like the man in front of Sephiroth was just as strong as he was. "This is unheard of." Sephiroth calmly said. Robert decided to let the villain know just what he was thinking, "I won't let you control me." he said before pushing Sephiroth away, "And I won't let you hurt Yuffie either." He finished while swinging his sword above his head. Sephiroth was about to charge again when Robert's eyes started to shine with that same intense blinding blue light. "Not again." He said, right before he felt something quickly slice through him. When the glowing stopped, Sephiroth noticed his opponent standing where he was before the limit break, sword against the ground and a long trench going from the sword's blade to him. "This isn't over." He said before disappearing into a black mist.

When Robert came to he noticed three things, he was in a place he had never seen before, Yuffie was kneeling right in front of him with her hands duck taped together like she was praying, and he was holding the Buster sword high above his head like he was going to split her in half. Dropping the buster sword to his side but not letting go, he knelt down to Yuffie with concern written on his face and breath, and said, "Are you ok?" Yuffie looked straight into his eyes, like she was looking for something. Something she found, "Cloud, it's really you in there. When you approached me you had this funny look in your eyes like you weren't really you or something." She ranted in extreme panic, letting her tears finally flow free. "Funny look?" he asked. "Yah you looked like Sephiroth." She told him still very much scared. Robert remembered Cloud's words quickly and looked up to see Sephiroth descending swiftly, his Masamune pointed right at Yuffie. Thinking fast, Robert tightened his hold on his sword jumped into the air, and swung with all his might at Sephiroth. The two swords connected and Sephiroth went flying across the room. Robert landed on his feet right in front of his fiancé, and said, "I told you, I won't let you hurt Yuffie. This isn't your old world." Sephiroth quickly jumped to his feet and Robert swung his sword around his head and place Yuffie behind him. When he slammed it to the ground, a crescent blade of blue energy carved up the floor it traveled on heading straight for him. Sephiroth calmly flew into the air and avoided the attack all together. Scoffing at the situation, Sephiroth swiveled his sword so it was upside down in his hand and sped toward the couple, specifically Yuffie. Robert lifted the massive sword above his head and came down hard on the flying villain, even though Sephiroth blocked. The two of them were in a stalemate again, neither letting the other have the upper hand. "Cloud, a puppet must obey its master as he pulls the strings." Sephiroth taunted. "I'm not Cloud, and I'm nobody's puppet." Robert shouted as he pushed harder than ever before, pushing Sephiroth back several feet. Suddenly, like before, his eyes shined in a blinding light, "Uh how can you use Limit Break twice in one day?" Sephiroth screamed as he shielded his eyes from the light. Looking up he noticed Robert rush at him at remarkable speeds, so the silver haired man leaped into the air and floated there, confident his opponent wouldn't follow. To his surprise, Robert did follow and came vertically up with his sword, cutting right threw him. As Robert came down to touch ground he looked up to see the enemy fading into black mist and again leaving behind a dead man.

Yuffie was so glad to be back at her home, safe and sound. Even when James teased her, it felt welcome compared to what had been happening in her life lately. Even so she knew she wouldn't trade any of it for anything. She just wished that her life could change a little les dangerously.

**To be continued…**


	13. Chapter 13 New Bells, Old Song

**Chapter 13 – New Bells, Old Song**

The rest of the week was relatively event-less. Sephiroth never once showed up to face off against Robert or his friends. And the wedding plans soared, thanks to Tiffa and her friends. The day before the wedding was probably the most interesting, because Tiffa actually kidnapped Yuffie again. It happened during breakfast of the day before; Yuffie was up early, a rare occasion the James never seemed to miss with a teasing joke. "Did your alarm clock wake you up?" he asked her as she sat down to bacon eggs and hash browns. "What alarm clock?" she asked innocently, still half asleep. James fake gasped at the news he received, "Miracles do happen!" he said with obvious false surprise in his voice. Yuffie took a few seconds to let his words register in her head, and when they did, she shot up like a bullet and chased him around the kitchen. "That's not funny anymore James." She screamed at him. "Yah I know, it just got hilarious." He responded while laughing like crazy. Robert for the most part ignored the two as they acted like playing kittens. As they passed by him he lifted the frying pan in his hands above his head, and turned around to place the hot eggs on his plate. Sitting down to enjoy his breakfast, he got no more than one bite of eggs before the door bell rang. "Uhg, could this day be any more stressful?" he asked the ceiling. However, before he rose from his seat, Yuffie ran to the door saying, "I got it Cloud, you eat." "Thanks Yuffie." He said turning back to his meal. Yuffie opened the door only to see Tiffa and her friends standing there, with a rope in her hands. Yuffie quickly turned around and fled the scene as Tiffa and all five of the girls dove into the house after her. "What the…?" Robert shouted as the house door nearly flew off of its hinges. Watching as Yuffie ran around the house dodging the girls at every turn, he saw James hide behind the couch. "They must be here to kidnap Yuffie again for some reason." James called across the room. Finally fed up with how the day was going, Robert decided to put a stop to it, "ENOUGH!" he yelled. Every one stopped except Yuffie, she ran to him and hid behind him. "What the heck is going on?" "Two things actually, Yuffie's dress is done and you two can't see each other from now until you get married." Tiffa informed the soon to be married couple. "Why not?" Yuffie asked. "It's bad luck!" all the girls said at the same time. "Either way Tiffa, you don't need the rope." Robert told the older woman. Tiffa gave him a look that asked if he were nuts and said, "Sure I do, it makes the kidnapping look more authentic." Robert remembered the day of Yuffie's real kidnapping before solemnly saying, "Trust me Tiffa, we can do without the authenticity." Tiffa pouted before walking back to her car to put the rope away.

The trip to get her dress was quiet, too quiet. Knowing Tiffa this usually meant that something was up. Especially since there were three of them in the car, Tiffa drove with one of her friends sitting up front and Yuffie in the back. Yuffie was ready to jump out the window it was so quiet, Tiffa and the one friend that rode with them hadn't said a word since they left the game shop. "So, what are we going to do after I get my dress?" she asked. Her only response was the two girls giggling uncontrollably. "Hello? Young bride wondering what's going on here." She said after a while. "Barret, Vincent, and Cid were going to take Cloud to a bachelor party. So we're taking you to a bachelorette party." She said with a sly grin on her face. Yuffie tried her best to disappear further into the back seat, "I'm not old enough to drink though." She reminded the girls up front. The two grins just got bigger as they knew something Yuffie didn't. Yuffie's fears grew and she wished she could disappear.

Robert walked around for a while not really caring where he went. The grocery store was a few blocks back and that actually was his excuse to leave, he'd have to remember the groceries on the way home. Others might say he was enjoying his last day of freedom, but he liked to think of it as preparing for change. Suddenly he saw a familiar street off to the far side of the main drag. He hadn't realized he'd walked that far, and now he was right next to the street leading to his family house, the same house he let Tiffa, Barret, Vincent, and the animals use as a home. The memories of his father began flooding his mind as his eyes followed the visible path to the trees. "Wish you were here Pops. You'd be both proud and scared." He whispered to himself. "He's probably just proud." A gruff voice said from behind him. Robert spun around to find Vincent standing there, still in his red tattered cloak. The look on his face was flat but the look in his eyes said he cared. "Thanks Vincent." Robert said. Vincent just nodded his approval, and remained silent for a good minute. "Barret and Cid want to take you for a bachelor party. I had to remind them that you are still two years too young to drink alcohol." "Thanks again, my uncle used to be a drinker and I don't want to end up like him." Robert said. "Smart choice." Vincent agreed. Another minute of silence followed, the two were like old friends who knew what the other had done there whole life. "We should get moving, Barret will come looking for you." Vincent warned his friend. Robert silently laughed as he smiled at the thought of the large Samoan football player trying to tackle him to the ground. "I'll see if James wants to close up shop and come with us. I have to pick up groceries anyway." Robert informed his friend. Huffing a little, Vincent decided his role in how things would play out, "I'll stall him as long as I can." With that the red caped man, crossed the street by leaping over everything, and landing in front of the road leading to the house. Robert smiled and lowered his eyes to the floor, and then he turned and began making his way back to his house, the game shop.

Yuffie thought the day just couldn't get any worse, not only did the girls drag her all over town trying on just about everything they thought was cute but now that they were at a lingerie shop, they also embarrassed her with some of the most revealing things, and made her model them. She just couldn't wait to go to sleep that night, and thank heaven Tiffa banned alcohol from the party.

Robert made his way back to the shop, groceries in hand walking with a confidence he never knew he had. The one thought in his mind was 'I'm getting MARRIED!' As he looked up to see the building he was heading to, he noticed something strange, the front door to the shop was wide open and hanging by a single hinge near the bottom. Robert immediately dropped his bag and ran to find the place ransacked. The cash register was cleaned out and the shelves were toppled over, what was strange were the slash marks along the walls. "He was taken, I saw it all." Robert heard a strangely familiar voice from behind him. Robert spun around to see what looked like a depressed Sephiroth sitting on the bench near the shop. Anger flooded his veins and he quickly Mako Shifted, bringing the Buster sword to his side. "What have you done?" Robert roared. "I did nothing; there would be no point to it." Sephiroth solemnly said, lowering his head lower to his chest in depression. Utterly confused, Robert lowered the Buster sword to his side, and asked, "What do you mean?" Sephiroth looked up to the boy, a sad depressed look flooded his face. "Everything we do is pointless Cloud, and now your brother has no future as well." "What happened here? What happened to you?" Questions began escaping Robert's mouth before he even knew it. Sephiroth could only answer his questions the best he could, "I woke up, and nothing mattered, not even fighting you. I was across the street when I saw it, a man with a lot of black hair and a sword as big as yours, broke down the door and kidnapped your brother right in front of me. It doesn't matter anyway, I think he saw me before I hid, so I stayed behind to tell you." "A guy with lots of black hair?" Robert asked. "That's what I saw. The guy even dragged your injured brother behind him." Sephiroth said lowering his head back down. "Injured? How?" Robert asked in a panic. "His side was bleeding pretty bad, but I think he was still alive." Sephiroth answered. "Then I can still save him." Robert whispered to himself. Turning back to the depressed Sephiroth he asked trustingly, "Which way did he go?" Sephiroth slowly lifted his hand to point the way to Robert's brother, the opposite way Robert arrived from. "Thank you Sephiroth and your help really does mean a lot to me." he said before running off to save his brother. Sephiroth watched as Cloud ran further and further away, a kind of pride began swelling up with in him and he smiled. The silver haired man stood from his bench and began walking the streets again, his depression lessened a little thanks to his adversaries words. Looking to the sky as his heart lifted he whispered, "Maybe life isn't so pointless after all." and just like that, a large sword was shoved through his stomach coming from behind him. Sephiroth looked down sure that it was Cloud's buster sword, but what he saw was a different sword, similar in size and shape with two major differences, the actual sword was black instead of silver and it had a blade on the back of it as well. From behind him he heard a dark sinister voice that sounded almost as if it were trying to be hidden by kindness. Sephiroth knew the voice didn't belong to Cloud, because when the person spoke, his voice was too high. "I need you to do me a favor Sephiroth." That was all he heard before he turned back into the black mist, leaving behind a pail skinned teenager in black cloths, hanging dead on the sword.

Robert raced towards the nearest Mako Pool in the general direction of where Sephiroth pointed, desperate to find his brother, hoping with all his might that he would find him still alive. Reaching the gates of the Mako pool, he noticed the same gouges running through the thick metal doors leading to the actual pool, and every guard stationed there dead in the most brutal of ways by sword. Running into the central area, he saw his brother, floating face up in the middle of the Mako. Wasting no time, Robert jumped in and thanked heaven that this Mako Pool was not big at all, a mere fifteen feet in radius and now only ten feet deep. As soon as Robert hit the strange liquid, he could feel it soaking into him. The strange thing was, it felt like it made him stronger little by little. It took no more than two minutes to swim to his brother and bring him back to shore. But that was also all it took for the police to arrive. "I knew you'd slip up one day." The chubby sergeant said to him as he neared the shore. Robert watched, ankle deep in Mako as Police men flooded the grounds pinning him between the Mako pool he was trying to escape from and them. "And this time, you've got no one to bail you out."

The precinct was like any other police building, stone uninviting walls and very hard uncomfortable chaires. Robert recited what had actually happened again, the Officer was dead set on pinning him to the murders of all the guards at the Mako Pool, and he knew it. "I told you I didn't kill them, they were dead when I got there." Robert repeated. "And you were there why?" the sergeant asked for the fifth time. "I was trying to rescue my brother." He said again. The sergeant leaned back and sighed, rubbing his face with his hands in frustration. He decided to go with a different approach before MH2 arrived, "We've got a witness that says they saw you hacking up the guards and taking your brother for a swim. Now he's in the hospital because of it and you can kiss whatever freedom you have goodbye, now tell me the truth and we'll make this easier on you." As he spoke, his volume rose in anger, trying to intimidate his subject into a confession. Robert held firm, "I already told you the truth, I was there to rescue him, not infuse him. The guy's crazy enough without Mako powers." He shouted back. Angered beyond all limits, the sergeant rose to his feet and shouted, "Dammit kid just admit to it, everyone knows you Mako infused sons of bitches are killers." Suddenly the door opened revealing a very familiar figure, Captain Thalwald from MH2. "And that my friends, is why I don't watch the news, it makes a man bias." He said. Peeking outside the door, the Sergeant saw the entire department looking at him with disapproval and shame. Thalwald presented his badge to the Sergeant and explained, "Your brother has a cut in his side, he's doing ok now but like you, he's fallen into a Mako coma." Robert lowered his head in sadness, silently crying for his brother. Thalwald pointed at the crying boy and told the Sergeant, "Does that look like a killer to you?" The rotund officer folded his arms and scoffed at the scene, not believing it at all. Thalwald turned to the sergeant and said with a smile, "I believe since Mako was involved, this has become my case." The chubby cop turned with a huff, and stormed out of room. Before the door closed, the two of them could hear someone say, "Phillis, I need to talk with you." Turning to the crying guard, Thalwald said, "You know they really don't have a witness." Robert lifted his head slightly to say, "I know." "I already recorded your story kid, no need to say it again. You've been pretty honest with me so far, I see no reason to doubt you now." Thalwald told him. "Thanks." He responded. "I just need to know one thing." The Captain said. "What?" Robert asked slowly raising his teary eyes to look at him. "How's that girlfriend of yours?" Robert looked at him with a sort of shock, he never knew that Thalwald would be so interested in his life that they would become friends. "She's fine I guess, we really haven't seen each other since breakfast because of some pre-wedding ritual." He said. Thalwald adopted a look of his own surprise hearing the news of this boy's wedding. "Congratulations kid. Wish I could go but I have to work tomorrow." "James was supposed to be my best man." Robert informed him sadly. "Sorry kid, you really don't deserve this. But maybe your brother will come out of it like you did." Thalwald suggested. "I sure hope so" Robert said sadly. Silence impregnated the air for a minute before Thalwald stood up from his seat, "You can come with me if you want or just leave on your own." Robert's eyes opened wide in a surprise before the captain continued, "Where is your wedding being held anyway, I might drop by to watch."

**To be continued…**


	14. Chapter 14 New Lives, Old Ties

**Chapter 14 – New Lives, Old Ties**

Barret, Vincent and Cid walked through the store, baffled at the destruction that took place. "What in the Sam Hill happened here?" Cid asked in shock. The cigarette in his mouth hung from his lips and just about fell out. "Not really sure. Vincent You sure he went right home?" Barret asked. Vincent just nodded and looked around some more. "I doubt he'll want to go to your Bachelor Party after this." The dark mannered man said. Before Barret had a chance to retort, the heard a car pulling up to the side of the building and stop. The three of them hid the best they could, Barret ran and ducked behind the counter and Mako shifted, Cid jumped over some of the toppled shelves and crouched down to Mako Shift as well. Vincent jumped up to balance above the door frame and silently pulled out his Cerberus. As the figures neared the door mumbling could be heard and Vincent tried hard to recognize the voices. All he could do was hear a single phrase. "Let me know if anything changes." Then the car drove away and heavy footsteps could be heard walking towards the destroyed door. The moment the figure reached the door frame, the three of them sprung into action, Vincent pointed Cerberus strait down, touching its barrels to the perpetrator's head. Cid Shot up and held his spear like he was going to throw it and called out with a battle cry. Barret stood up and pointed his right arm at the unknown person. That person was a wide eyed Robert. "Don't shoot." He said in a panic. Lowering his spear, Cid decided to tell the young man off, "Damn kid. First you set up the place for Halloween early, and then you scare the shit out of us by trying to sneak back in. Something is defiantly wrong with you boy." Vincent calmed down quickly and jumped from the door frame to stand right next to his friend and placed the Cerberus back in its holster. "What happened here?" he asked not caring that his voice had obvious worry in it. "Barret is that you?" Robert asked looking at the Samoan Football star. The man had changed from head to toe; his broad chest was bare with just an open ripped sleeve tan jacket vest, covering his top. He green cargo pants he wore were tucked into his large combat boots and held up by a large steel ring for a belt. The biggest change was to his right arm, the entire forearm was transformed into what looked like a gun attached to the rest of his arm. His left hand had a fingerless black glove with a metal gauntlet around his wrist. "Yah, and after the stunt you just pulled I should just let you have it." He said pointing his gun arm closer to the boy. "Easy Barret, Let's just find out what happened here." Vincent suggested. "That's a damn good question, what in the hell happened." Cid asked as he de-shifted his spear. Robert looked down remembering the events of the day. Sadness flooded his soul as he said, "James was taken and thrown into a Mako Pool." Barret lowered his arm in shock, Vincent was the one to break the silence. "Is he alright?" "He's in a coma." Robert informed them. Every one fell silent, unable to know what to say in this situation, until Cid said, "Damn." "Shouldn't you tell Yuffie?" Vincent asked. "Yah. I promised not to keep secrets from her, but I don't want to ruin her day." Robert said. "Trust me on this kid, tell her now and it will save you a lot of heartache." Cid said. "Sound advice man." Barret spouted off. Robert made his way to the phone, only to realize something half way, "She doesn't have a cell phone." He said turning around to his friends.

With the embarrassment finally over, Yuffie traveled with Tiffa and several bags of revealing lingerie and make up she would probably only use on her wedding day. Her dress was neatly tucked away in the trunk of the car, and thanks to Tiffa's tidy nature, was promised to be in pristine condition. As they pulled up to the mansion like house Tiffa lived in thanks to Robert, she saw her husband Barret sitting on the front porch. The two women climbed out of the car and Tiffa saw the downtrodden look on her Samoan husbands face. "Sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked in concern. Looking up at his wife, Barret asked in silence, "Did you know Cloud had a twin brother?" "Huh? Yah why?" Tiffa asked. "What's wrong with James?" Yuffie quickly put in. "He was attacked." Barret said simply. The two girls gasped at the news, and then Barret continued, "He's in a Mako Coma at the local Hospital." "That's terrible." Yuffie said fearing for her brother-in-law's life. Despite the fact that he teases her all the time, she felt like he was an older brother to her. Even Tiffa's demeanor took on a depressive tone. "How is he taking it?" she asked. Barret slowly looked up at the two girls and said, "As good as can be expected I guess." "Is he going to call the wedding off?" Tiffa asked worried for Yuffie's feelings. "No, he's not." Barret informed the girls lowering his head again. "Vincent is staying over to help with the clean up and in case Cloud needs help."

Vincent worked alongside Robert as they repaired the walls to the house, both remaining quiet yet never leaving each other. The display stands were righted and restocked with the unbroken merchandise and the broken games were either discarded or sent to the back for repairs later. Surprisingly, Vincent was the one to finally break the hours of silence. "Was it Sephiroth?" he asked. Robert turned to his friend with surprise, "You know Sephiroth?" he asked. "I've shot at him a few times in my Mako Hunter years. The first time we met him he humiliated the entire squad, so I made it a point to train till I never missed. The Hunters have been fighting him since they were formed." The cloaked man answered, and then repeated, "So was it him?" "No actually, he helped me find James by pointing me to him." Robert told him. "Strange. He's never been helpful before." Vincent said placing his hand to his chin in thought. Robert chuckled a little before saying, "I think he shifted from a depressed Emo." Removing his hand from his chin, Vincent said, "Oh. That makes sense." Silence fell upon the two friends again. Curiosity ran rampant through Vincent's mind, questions at who might have been behind it. Suddenly Robert spoke up, "I need your help Vincent." Turning to his friend, Vincent gave Robert a look that asked 'how can I help?' "I need you to fill in for James and be the best man." Vincent received a shock at the concept, and could feel even the color of his cloak fade to white. "M…me?" Vincent asked. "It has to be. You're the only other person I feel is like a close friend to me." Robert rationalized. "But I hardly know you." Vincent countered. "If I ask Barret he'll want to play Football as a way to bond, and if I ask Cid he'll either make something embarrassing up or recount the day Kueng pointed that gun at Yuffie." Vincent was just about to argue the point when Robert continued, "Besides, I trust you the most." How could he argue that point? The guilt trip alone made him forget his words. Giving into the guard's wishes, Vincent slumped his shoulders and said, "Fine."

Morning arose and welcomed a new day. The welcome was however an insult to one such girl named Yuffie. Turning her head to keep from being offended by the sunlight pouring in through the window, she was nowhere near ready for the surprise attack Tiffa made to get her out of bed. The busty woman and all five of her friends burst into the room all at once, squealing and cheering loudly. Yuffie shot up out of bed screaming as the six girls surrounded her, "What are you doing in my room!" she yelled at the girls. Stopping for a minute, Yuffie looked around to find she was in and unfamiliar room. "You slept here at the house Cloud let us borrow, remember. You're getting married today." Tiffa reminded the young girl. The memories of yesterday came flooding back all at once, right before the six girls screamed, "HAPPY EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY YUFFIE." "What time is it?" she asked. Tiffa leaned down to be eye level with the young bride, looked her in the eyes and said, "Time to go."

Robert had been up early as usual. His breakfast eaten and dishes cleaned. Still he knew James' absence was foreign to him. Vincent sat across the room, still looking over the piece of paper he had written his so called speech on. Looking up from his writing, Vincent gazed at the clock, and noted, "We should get going. You don't want to be late to your own wedding." Robert slowly looked at the same clock, the one his brother picked out to hang in the living room. He hated that clock. "Yah." He said quietly. Vincent knew what was bothering him, Robert probably wished he had been there earlier to help his brother. "He'll be fine. You'll see." Suddenly Robert began laughing. It started as a silent chuckle, but grew quickly into a roar of laughter. "What's so funny?" Vincent asked his friend. "James probably gave his attacker a run for his money. The guy's crazy like that." Vincent tilted his head to the right in confusion, "What do you mean?" "My brother is an adrenaline junky; he'll welcome a crazy challenge like that." Robert informed him. "Oh." was all Vincent could say. Almost a minute of silence followed, and then Robert quietly said, "Let's get going, I've got a girl to marry."

Yuffie was nervous, and every one could tell. She fidgeted with her hands and anything she got her hands on. "He's still not here." She said. Tiffa just looked at her a little awkwardly, "I'm sure he'll be here soon." "Besides you're not ready yet." One of Tiffa's friends said. Tiffa thought about it for a second and said, "Oh yah that's right." "What is?" Yuffie asked. Tiffa pointed one of her first fingers into the air and recited what she had learned during her own wedding, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." "Huh?" Yuffie asked in total confusion. She had no idea what her friend was talking about. "They're the four things a bride needs to have good luck on their wedding. The 'something old' is to represent family." Tiffa said reciting her own information. "That would be me." the girls heard from the door frame. There stood the man giving Yuffie away, Guang. "The formal wear he had on was a black tux, and he didn't look happy about it. "I really wish you had chosen a traditional **Chinese** wedding, Yuffie." He complained. "Sorry Guang." She apologized. "However, I do have a little something for your wedding outfit." He said replacing his frown with a broad smile. From inside his coat pocket, he revealed a strange diamond necklace. The chain was of shiny silver, encrusted with several small diamonds near the actual charm, a Chinese dragon surrounding a large rare blue diamond. "Guang, it's beautiful." She said in awe. "This will be your something old," he said as he placed the necklace around Yuffie, "and for your something blue, I have this." Box he pulled out of his side pocket, was about the size of his hand. When he opened it, the object inside was a blue flower hair clip. The flower looked like a rose and was almost life like. Guang pulled the clip out of the box and skillfully pinned it into her hair on her right side. Pulling back from the bride, Guang smiled with a pride only a father could feel. "You make me proud Yuffie. I'm glad I had the chance to be the father you needed so desperately." Yuffie couldn't help herself, she started crying right there, and threw her arms around the old Chinese man in a great hug. "Thank you for being there dad." She whispered into his ear. "You may call me that any time." "You still need your something borrowed." Tiffa said. "What about the something new?" Yuffie asked. "The dress counts." One of the bride's maids said. Looking up Yuffie tried to see who said that, but now all five friends looked exactly the same. "You can borrow these." Tiffa said as she removed her earrings. "But I don't have piercings." Yuffie informed her. "Neither do I. They're clip-on earrings." She said holding up the earrings. The earrings were diamonds dangling from a silver hoops that clipped onto the outside of the ears. Tiffa gently clipped the jewelry onto Yuffie's ears and said, "Now you're ready."

"Where is he?" Cid whispered to Barret. "Got me." the Samoan man responded. "But when I see him I'm gonna tackle him so hard his head will spin for an hour." The chapel had been decorated with dark and light green streamers running across the ceiling. Rows of chairs were decorated with green bows and balloons and filled with people like Tiffa's and Barret's families. At the front of the chapel there was beautiful archway behind it, decorated in ivy and roses both red and white and the pastor standing in front ready to start the ceremony. "Only if I don't dodge." They heard from behind them. Turning around quickly, they met face to face with Robert and Vincent. Vincent had instead of his cloak, a black tuxedo, though he kept the red head wrapping. Robert's tuxedo was pure white. White shirt, pants, coat, tie and shoes. "About time." Cid said. "Never mind that, get up to the archway, the ceremony's about to start." Barret said while shoving Robert towards the front. "I'm going, I'm going." Robert complained. Vincent followed him to the front, baffling both Cid and Barret, "Where do you think you're going?" Barret asked. "To stand next to the groom as best man." The pale man said. Both other men dropped their jaws nearly to the ground. Neither one of them suspected that he would be chosen. Almost as soon as he reached the pastor, he could hear the organ start playing. Yuffie would have been pissed if he were any later than this. With that the doors opened and he watched as all five of the brides maids walked out to join the group, each leaving rose pedals on the ground as they walked. Seconds after they all got settled into their places, he heard the song he was waiting for, 'Here Comes the Bride'. He was so scared, he almost didn't look up to see the girl he was going to marry. Forcing himself to turn his head, because his eyes wouldn't move, he saw Yuffie as she and Guang made their way down the aisle. The dress she wore was the most beautiful he'd ever seen, the green beads on the top half made her look like she was Mako Shifting as she walked. The bright blue flower in her hair accented the entire dress, and brought out the shining diamonds of the necklace and the earrings. "Wow." He said in a whisper. "I second that motion." Vincent whispered in shock. As Guang walked up to the archway, With Yuffie hanging on to his arm, he eyed Robert with a confident look that said 'I believe in the two of you.' Looking back to Yuffie, Robert nearly clamed up from nervousness. And with that, Guang gave Yuffie away to marry Robert. As he passed by the boy he said something very out of character, "You'd better take care of her or else." Robert gulped as Guang passed by, and when the old man sat down, he grinned, "I've always wanted to say that."

The pastor cleared his throat and the entire audience fell silent. "Ladies and gentle men, we are gathered here today to witness the union of Robert Gaia to Yuffie…" the pastor said, leaning towards Yuffie he asked, "What did you say your last name was?" Yuffie chuckled as she thought about it, "Guang." She said. Standing back to full height he continued, "Yuffie Guang. If any of you have reason these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your piece." The entire room went silent, for the entire thirty seconds. Continuing on the Pastor said, "Robert, take Yuffie's ring and place it on her left ring finger, and say 'with his ring I thee wed'." Robert did as he was instructed saying, "With this ring I thee wed." Turning to Yuffie he the pastor said, "Yuffie take Robert's ring place it on his left ring finger and say 'with this ring I thee wed'." Yuffie's hands began shaking as she reached for the wedding band, grasping the ring firmly in her hand, she slipped it onto her fiancé's ring finger and said, "W…w…with this r…r…ring I the wed." the last part she sped up so as to keep from stuttering. The pastor smiled at the innocents of the girl before continuing, "Do you Robert take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold for, rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, forever and for eternity?" he asked. Robert turned to Yuffie, gazing into her grey glowing orbs and said, "I do." Yuffie's heat lifted at his words, just knowing he wanted her to be his wife was a light in the darkness. "And do you Yuffie take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband to have and to hold, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, forever and for eternity?" Yuffie froze on the spot, her mouth wouldn't work at all, looking everywhere for comfort, she found it in the form of blue glowing eyes, Robert's eyes, "I do." She breathed out. The pastor reached for the sky saying, "Then by the power vested in me I pronounce you Man and Wife. You may kiss the bride." Robert closed the distance between them and whispered to her, "I've been waiting all week to tell you this." He kissed her full on the lips with all the feeling in his heart. Pulling away from her he finished his sentence, "I love you." Yuffie looked up at him with love in her eyes and heart, "I love you to." The crowd could be heard cheering loudly for the newlyweds and Robert swore he heard Barret whistle. Tiffa and the girls surrounded the two before they knew it and questions started flying everywhere, only one caught Robert's ears, "Where are you two going to go for your Honeymoon?" Robert answered, "I'm taking Yuffie on a month long world cruise aboard the Gold Saucer Cruise Liner." "WHAT?" everyone shouted in surprise. "YEEEESSSSSS!" Yuffie shouted while wrapping her arms around her new husbands neck. "Happy birthday Yuffie." he whispered.

**To be continued…**


	15. Chapter 15 New Plans, Old Parts

**Chapter 15 – New Plans, Old Parts**

The Gold Saucer was undoubtedly the largest of cruise ships in the world. The main deck was comprised of five different sections each comprising of three different activities ranging from swimming and surfing to just tanning or skateboarding, as well as three thousand bedrooms. Beneath that were three lower decks with basketball, volleyball, and almost every other sport you could think of on the second floor. The floor furthest down contained a spa, weight room, boxing ring, library, full game room, and lounge. And the third floor was the dining room and kitchen. There was always something to eat and you could get it anytime you wanted thanks to the restaurant style service. That was one of the reasons the tickets were so expensive.

Two weeks into their honeymoon and Robert was already enjoying how much his new wife smiled when she was having fun, both in and out of bed. Currently he watched as she surfed in the surfing wave pool of top deck in her green one piece swimsuit two as he sunbathed on the pool chair of the same deck in his white and black board shorts. "This is the best." She called out to him, right before she wiped out. Robert laughed out loud content with the teenage like nature of the woman he married only two weeks ago. Yuffie popped her head out of the water and smiled at how silly she must have looked to him. One thing she learned about him was that he loved people for who they were, embarrassment came very slow to him and he preferred to be patient and trusting rather than rushed and alone. And she was fine with that. Over the three weeks she'd known him, she fallen in love with him at least once a week, and had come to trust him in every way possible, even the decisions she thought were stupid. Hopping out of the wave pool, Yuffie made her way over to her husband, and her towel. She'd let her raven black hair grow a little during the cruise, it now touched her shoulders and curled at the ends. Robert had let his light brown hair grow as well, the single spike in the middle branched out and his hair began sticking out all over his head, making his head look like a curled up hedgehog. The strange thing was, even when wet, his hair never flattened. He just chalked it up to Mako enhanced hair. Yuffie walked up to him and stopped right in front of him, grinning. "Oh no." He said when he saw the look on her face. Quick as lightning and wet as a fish, she placed herself on top of him, "OH GOSH, you're cold and wet." He said to her. "I know, and your warm and dry." She countered. "Well I was. What's up?" he retorted. "I love you." She said trying to get cute. "I love you to Yuffie. Even if you do the strangest things." He replied grabbing her towel and drying her hair for her. The only thing she did was grin. "Let's see, we've visited Italy, Franc, Spain, Germany …" he began. Yuffie helped to remind him, "Don't forget China." Robert remembered their shopping trip through the Chinese cities. His most prominent memory was when Yuffie came out of nowhere and lifted a large heavy red wooden box up to the desk of the postal service. "Guang is going to love this." She said with a big grin on her face. Snapping back to reality Robert shook his head and had to ask, "What was in that box anyway?" Yuffie just grinned and said, "You'll never know." Robert gave her a look that clearly said 'no fair' even if he didn't actually say it. Returning to his list of places visited, he continued, "Japan and both Korea's." Yuffie decided to give her husband a little confidence boost, "This has been the best honeymoon ever Cloud. Thank you." Robert smiled at her, he had already come to the realization that she may never call him by his real name, and it didn't bother him. "Thanks Honey." He said making her blush. She was still a little shy about public spousal nick names, but she was slowly getting use to it. "What do you want to do now?" Yuffie asked as she scooted off of him, making sure to get his chest good and wet, as well as cold. "Get something hot to eat." He suggested. "Before or after going to the room to change?" she asked with a glint in her eye. Robert just grinned and said, "After."

Tiffa and Barret were busy trying to run the game shop without Robert there to help them. Only having a crash course in the gaming business, work was more training for them. Tiffa had no idea that James had so many customers, or the fact that not all of the customers were money wasting teenagers, or gaming geeks. "Yes sir I have it right here." She said into the phone, "I understand, but you have to realize that the entire staff is new and inexperienced. Things will take a little longer." Listening to the phone pinned between her ear and her shoulder, she replied, "I know you're a million dollar company sir." At that time Vincent walked out of the back room, "Tell him his shipment will be there tomorrow, we'll ship express fragile." Tiffa moved the phone away from her mouth to whisper, "Thank you Vincent." Talking back into the phone she told her customer, "We're shipping it express, so it will be arriving tomorrow." Placing her papers down to the table in front of her she said, "Thank you for your patience, uh huh, by." After hanging up the phone, she turned to the cloaked man, "Thank you Vincent, you and Barret are life savers. I had no idea that this little store catered to three different multimillion dollar companies." She said in relief. "Vincent nodded in response and vanished to the back room to continue his inventory. Tiffa sat down on the stool behind the counter and rubbed her forehead to relieve stress. 'I thought he said this was easy.' She thought to herself. Suddenly she heard a knock at the door, and a crackly teenage voice say, "MAIL CALL!" really loud. Lifting herself from the stool, Tiffa made the journey from the counter to the door and opened it to find a young mail carrier standing there with several letters and a large package. "You the new intern hot stuff?" the boy asked trying to seem attractive. "Yes, and I'm married" she said indignantly holding up her left hand to show off her ring. "Oh. Sigh here." He said in defeat. Tiffa grabbed the document from him and signed her name. "And for the record, you're late." She said in a huff. The boy turned around a little miffed but mostly afraid and walked back to his delivery truck. Taking the mail and the large package, Tiffa entered the building and shut the door with her foot. Barret almost appeared out of nowhere and ran up to his wife, "Let me take that and we'll get to inventory, you find out what the mail is." "Thank you Barret." She said nearly exhausted. "After that, go upstairs and take a nap on the couch. Me and Vincent can handle the rest." He said trying to get her to relax. "You're a doll Barret," and with that, she kissed him on the lips, "but no." she added, and walked right passed him back to the counter. Barret shrugged and said, "Can't blame a guy for trying." and turned around to take the box back into the back to sort it out. Tiff shuffled through the mail finding mostly just personal letters and bills; however one particular envelope caught her eye. It was one of the few that were addressed specifically to the shop's name. Tiffa looked at the return address and almost fainted. "BARRET, VINCENT COME HERE PLEASE." She shouted. Both came running out of the back to meet up with the surprised woman, "What's up?" Barret asked. Tiffa slowly turned the envelope towards the two so they could read the front. The return address said, 'Gold Saucer Cruise Liners HQ, Miami Beach, FL 33239.' Barret's mouth nearly hit the floor, "They repair the games the Gold Saucer buys?" he asked. "Seems like it." Vincent said.

Yuffie lay there in bed sleeping and buck naked, nothing but the thin sheet separating her from the cold sea air. Sniffing the air as it filled with the scent of deliciousness, she awoke to see her husband walk into the bedroom of their sea bound hotel suite with a tray of food for her. "No fair, you ate without me." she complained. Robert turned around to look her in the eyes, "You fell asleep, as usual." He said teasingly. "Not my fault you're that good." She said as she sat up letting her covers fall and reveal her naked top half. Robert chuckled as he blushed, knowing she did that on purpose. Setting the tray in front of her he said, "Eat first, play second." and kissed her quickly. Suddenly the ship came to a sudden stop, even though Robert's reflexes kept Yuffie's meal from hitting the ground entirely. "What was that?" she asked. Robert looked out the window cautiously, and found nothing. "I don't know, but I'm going to find out." he said with all seriousness. Walking quickly towards the door, Robert commanded, "Eat your food, then get dressed and meet me outside." before exiting the room. Yuffie just sat there, completely naked with a tray of food on her lap, befuddled.

Out side he found people scrambling to get to one place or another, no one could tell him what was going on, even if he asked. Weaving his way in and out of the sea of people he tried to make his way to the captains quarters, until he heard a loud high pitched roar from up above him. Everyone looked up to see an enormous creature float high above them. The wings of the creature reminded Robert praying mantis pincers and the upper half looked like a human wearing dragon like armor even though the head was defiantly dragon. The lower half however, resembled belly dragon in every way, all the way down to the tail. The thing had to be taller than the Gold saucer ship was, and its black armor like hide looked thick. The red jewel in the middle of its chest shined with what looked like the light of souls. Every one ran except Robert, "What is that thing?" he asked out loud as it descended to gaze upon the fleeing crowd. Finally, its gaze landed on him, and without moving it's lips said in a familiar voice, "Well well, the escaped experiment. Cloud I believe you were called." "Dr. Lazarus?" Robert realized. "Correct. The experiment you see before you is called Ultimate Weapon. I was developing it as a sort of super weapon to use against enemies to the USA. However the process needed to create such a thing required several thousand Mako Infused souls to get perfect." Lazarus' voice said. "WHAT?" Robert screamed, "You fed all your experimented on Mako infused citizens to that thing." "What better way to satisfy the public and insure victory for our nation? Use the people they hate to make a weapon that only fights for your leaders." Lazarus boasted. In anger Robert Mako Shifted and held the Buster sword at his side, "That's just wrong, they were people to." "People that need to be exterminated like you." Lazarus shouted as the Weapon's mouth opened. Inside came a shadowy ball of what looked like energy, ready to be shot at the guard. Robert put up his arms up to protect his face and for some reason yelled, "FIRE." When Ultimate Weapon released the energy ball, it struck hard. The resulting smoke blocked the view of everyone. "Like a fly in and oven." Lazarus said. As the smoke cleared, the silhouette of a man with short spiky hair could be seen crossing his arms and holding a very large sword. "WHAT?" Lazarus shouted, Ultimate Weapon's eyes growing in surprise. "Looks like this fly's heat resistant." Robert said cocky. "But not squash proof." Lazarus said, raising the Ultimate Weapon's clawed hand above its head. The hand came crashing down on top of Robert as he lifted the Buster sword to block. He held up, the floor didn't. Removing himself from the wreckage of the collapsed floor, Robert said to himself, "That hurt." In his head he debated with himself, 'What was that? It reduced the damage I took. It felt like magic.' "Better find out." he said out loud. Leaping from the floor below to the deck's surface, he called out, "Fire." while holding his hand towards his enemy. Instead of fire erupting from his hands, a Lightning bolt came from the sky and struck Ultimate Weapon on the head. During Ultimate Weapons screams of pain he figured, "So when casting magic, we don't have any control over what spell we use, great." The last part he said sarcastically.

Yuffie couldn't stand it anymore, all the screams and the explosions outside. She quickly got dressed in some of her underwear and Mako Shifted. The green sleeveless turtle neck, the arm guard, she missed it all. It had been a while since she got a good fight in. Her food only half eaten, she took off quickly to find her husband, she was not going to let him die on their honeymoon. Exiting the room, she saw several hundred people trying to dash and escape what looked to be a giant half man half dragon. Yuffie stomped her foot and said, "Oh they did not include this in the brochure."

**To be continued…**


	16. Chapter 16 New Trials, Old Fortunes

**Chapter 16 – New Trials, Old Fortunes**

Robert soared through the air and swung his sword down with all the strength he had in his right hand. It harmlessly bounced off of the thick black hide of the Ultimate Weapon. And he stopped in mid air. Suddenly the back of Ultimate Weapon's hand was all he could see, and the pain of the impact was all he could feel. "Goof." he said as he flew through the air. Spinning around, Robert planted his feet on the far railing, and using all his leg strength, jumped at Ultimate Weapon again, this time his chest. Its reaction was faster this time, and swatted Robert right out of the air, nearly making him fly off of the ship. As he planted his feet firmly on the railing of the ship he saw a large familiar shurikan fly by and scratch Ultimate Weapon in the face. More annoyed than injured, Ultimate Weapon followed the path of the shurikan with its eyes and watched as it was caught by a girl no older than eighteen. "Sorry I'm a little late Cloud." She called out. "Thanks for the assist Yuffie." He called back. "Ah, the little girl who helped you experiments escape. Tell me, how do you intend to defeat my creation?" Dr. Lazarus asked from inside Ultimate Weapon. Robert spoke up first, "We'll find a way." then thought to himself, 'He protects that core piece on his chest more than he does the rest of him, that fact alone tells me that that's its weakness.' Spinning the Buster sword around so it was upside down, Robert leapt to meet Ultimate Weapon 's eyes, and like before, his sword made nothing but sparks as it collided with the tough hide. Before Ultimate Weapon had the chance to attack this time, Yuffie's shurikan came and struck him in the eye. Roaring in irritation, Ultimate Weapon and Dr. Lazarus didn't notice Robert until he dragged his buster sword across the surface of the red core on the chest of the monster. Ultimate Weapon screeched in pain and a visible scratch could be seen on the surface of the orb. 'I was right.' Robert thought to himself. "Yuffie, we have to destroy the red core on its chest." He called to her. "What is that thing any way?" she asked, and as a guess she added, "A machine?" "This is no machine, but rather a real creature." Lazarus' voice came calling. "Condensing large amounts of Mako into a single area and then feeding it living souls, that is the recipe to create this ultimate beast." As he finished his sentence, the Ultimate Weapon roared loudly. "So how did you become the voice of that thing?" Robert asked. "Simple, I offered parts of my own soul as I fed it living souls. Slowly becoming one with it and ensuring its cooperation." Lazarus said. "That's sick." Yuffie said. "Maybe, but I have secured my evolution and surpassed yours. I was more than thankful when that monster came and put an end to my miserable human existence." the madman said. Robert tightened his grip in anger, he never liked it when his friends were picked on, "Vincent is not a monster." He said through his teeth. Inching closer, Lazarus asked, "What was that?" with amusement in his voice. "Vincent's not the monster, you are." Robert shouted in anger, and jumped at the core of the Ultimate Weapon, only to get swatted again and slammed into the floor of the deck underneath a giant palm. "I am the ultimate evolution." Lazarus shouted before placing even more pressure on the downed guard. "GAAAAAAAA" Robert shouted, he could almost feel his bones cracking under the pressure. When the pressure suddenly lifted, he felt both relief and confusion, liking up he noticed Yuffie's giant shurikan spinning in the air and flying back to her. Glancing at the Ultimate Weapon, he noticed a new, deeper scratch in the core.

"You little whelp, I'll kill you!" Lazarus said as he launched the dark energy from his mouth. The energy collided with Yuffie head on, and as she screamed, Robert felt the over whelming feeling of loss fill his heart. "No." he whispered to himself. He watched as she fell to the ground limp and smoldering, the fabric on her arm guard tattered, "NO!" he called again his right arm out stretched. He felt it again; the feeling of magic tingling through his arm, and this time Yuffie began glowing a bright blue color with what he thought was a transparent angel fluttering above her for a few seconds. Crawling towards his glowing wife, Robert watched as her wounds slowly and mysteriously disappeared. As he reached her she groaned and began lifting herself up slowly. "WHAT?" Ultimate Weapon shouted. "Yuffie?" he whispered to her. "I'm alright I guess. How did you do that?" she responded in a week tired voice as she looked at him. Relief washed his worries away like a swift river washes away the leaves. "I got lucky I guess. When we cast magic we have no control over the spell used." Smiling weakly, she whispered back, "Well that's a useless skill." First he smiled at her, "You stay here I'm going to put a stop to this." And he stood up. "Be careful." She quietly pleaded. Robert walked over to where his sword lay and picked it up. He thought about how he almost lost his new wife because of this beast, and how many people were killed just to make it. All those thoughts stirred up his anger, and a rage began to boil over inside of him, making his eyes glow brightly. "WHAT IS THIS?" Lazarus asked. "Limit Break." Were the last words Robert said to the creature before him. Ultimate Weapon swiftly swung its hand to squash the warrior, and became surprised when he missed. Looking everywhere for the small man, Ultimate Weapon was startled to find the black clothed solder standing on his right shoulder. "How in…?" Lazarus tried to ask. Robert jumped high into the air and swung his sword around his head to rest on his back, and turned to face the great monster. Screaming out, the man threw the blade of his sword down without letting go of the handle, and from almost nowhere, five meteors appeared and hurled themselves strait at Ultimate Weapon. One collided with its arm before another collided with its head, so the other three could slam strait into the core. Ultimate Weapon screamed out in pain as the core cracked in three different places and spread across the entire orb. Robert let himself drop, and pointed his sword in front of him, it almost felt like he was flying as he headed straight for the core of the Weapon. "NO, STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Lazarus Shouted as he launched multiple black energy attacks at the falling man. Robert pierced through each of the individual attacks and continued towards his target, taking almost no damage. Ultimate Weapon unleashed a black stream of fire at the descending Mako Infused human covering him in its power. When Robert emerged, the only thing that happened was a singe on his cheek. "NO, THIS CAN'T HAPPEN!" Lazarus shouted right before Robert plunged the Buster sword into the core of the Ultimate Weapon. The release of power was almost instantaneous, enveloping Robert in what looked like a red light. "CLOUD!" Yuffie shouted in worry. Her husband just vanished into what looked like a large red ball of light that hovered in the air as it poured out of the Ultimate Weapon. Suddenly it began to shrink and take form, floating down to meet her on the deck. The form it took was that of Robert, holding a very different sword. The blade was made of what looked to be a white or clear crystal with a blue center, the handle was black and curved down on both sides with two red tubes sticking outward in each side and a blue gem connecting the blade to the hilt. The blade itself was shaped like what she could only describe as a sharp decorative spoon. Robert held it up admiringly, "What in the?" he asked in awe. The roar of the Ultimate Weapon broke the two out of their revere, both gazed at the thrashing monster, as it began literally fading away, "NO! THIS CAN'T BE! I'M THE ULTIMATE WEAPON, THE GREATEST EVOLUTION EVER!" they heard Dr. Lazarus as his voice to faded into a quiet stillness.

The silence lasted a few minutes until the people started coming out of there hiding places to see if the danger had passed. Eventually everyone came out of hiding, including the captain. "Is it gone?" someone asked. "Seems like it." Someone else said. The captain, a stout man wearing a white captain's suit with a white curly beard, walked up to them. "What happened to the monster?" Before Robert could even attempt to open his mouth Yuffie happily said, "We killed it." The captain sighed loudly, "Many thanks you two. It was lucky that you two were on board, or that thing might have killed us all." "Uh…don't mention it." Robert said. Thinking for a little while, the captain finally said, "Tell you what, as thanks for the rescue, the rest of your voyage will be on the house, and we'll even pay for your hotel while we get the repairs done." "How long will that be?" Yuffie asked as her husband helped her to her feet. "About a week once we get to dock, we'll get a crew working on it quickly." The captain said. "Looks like I get an extra week of honeymoon." Yuffie said with a sly smirk. Robert de-shifted back into his normal form and the new sword disappeared with the outfit. A few seconds went by as he waited for his wife to follow suit, when she didn't he said, "Yuffie, you can change back now." "No I can't." she said shyly, and then leaned into Robert's ear to whisper, "I'm only wearing my underwear."

Tiffa slouched at the counter of the shop, compared to yesterday this place was dead. Tiffa sighed as she found almost nothing to do, today she had reorganized the shelved and the filing cabinets, making things easier to find. She also went through all of the stores old invoices to throw away anything that had already been recorded, and recorded all the old invoices from the last two years. Sighing again she finally said it out loud, "I'M BOARD!" "You should find something to do." She heard Vincent say from behind her. "I've done everything around here Vincent, I've filed and recorded all of the old invoices and rearranged the shelving order to look more presentable." She said turning around to face the cloaked man. Looking around the store, Vincent noticed the place looked more open and presentable, "So you want a customer to walk in and ask you out again?" he asked in confusion, he never did understand girls. "UHH!" she said in a huff, and slammed her head down on the counter. "I just want something exiting to happen." Suddenly the door opened by itself, Tiffa shot up thinking it was a customer, only to find no one there. "Are you and Barret playing a trick on me?" she asked turning around. Barret stuck his head out of the back and asked, "You called Hun?" Tiffa's eyes went wide in a slight fear, "If you're over there and he's over here, then who just…" Tiffa turned around, expecting to see a ghost or something. Instead, Red Thirteen jumped up onto the counter, scaring the color out of Tiffa's skin. "HI!" he said. "YAAAAAA!" Tiffa screamed, and promptly feinted. "Lesson learned: be careful what you wish for." Vincent said stoically. The poor fox cub looked over the edge of the counter before saying innocently, "Is she dead?" Then the phone rang, and since Tiffa was out of commission, Vincent moved to pick it up. "James Games, this is Vincent speaking, how can I help you?" silence followed as Vincent listened to the other end. Smiling slightly he said, "Thanks for the heads up, we'll keep the shop running till you get back." and hung up. "Who was that?" Barret asked. "That was Cloud, he and Yuffie are going to be delayed for an extra week due to a large monster attacking the ship they were on." Vincent replied. "They ok?" The Samoan asked. "They were the ones to kill the monster." The cloaked man replied.

During those three weeks, the newlyweds saw just about everything. They spent the first week in Indonesia, Yuffie just had to try as much of their food as possible. Robert tried some but others just turned his stomach. After the repairs, they visited, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Africa, got a taste of Antarctica, and Brazil. Now it was time to dock at home. As the ship came in they saw their friends standing there waiting. Yuffie's smile stretched from ear to ear, as she shouted to get their attention, "HEY!" she called out, her arm wildly. Robert decided to hold her by the waist, knowing too well that she had a habit of slipping when she was excited. Coming off of the ship, Yuffie and Robert once again found themselves with sea legs, leaning on each other for support, and laughing about something or other. Tiffa was the first to great them, with a bear hug. Her massive strength nearly crushed the two to death. "You guys, I don't know how you do it, that shop nearly drove me insane." She cried. "Tiffa honey, you might want to let the newlyweds breathe." Barret insisted both worried for them and for his wife. "So what now?" Vincent asked as Tiffa finally stopped crying enough to let the two go. "Well first I'm going to go see my brother, it's been too long." Robert said as soon as he regained his breath. "You go ahead Cloud, and while you're doing that, I'll move my stuff into **our** room." Yuffie said, putting a great emphasis on **our**. Robert kissed Yuffie soundly on the lips quickly, before saying, "You're an angel Yuffie." and ran off to find the hospital his brother was administered to.

**To be continued…**


	17. Chapter 17 New World Crisis

**Final Chapter – New World Crisis**

"Excuse me, I'm here to see James Gaia." Robert said as he approached the front desk of the hospital. The receptionist was a young girl, with short rimmed glasses but beauty for a face. "And you are?" she asked. "Robert Gaia, his twin brother." He responded. The girl finally looked up to see what she thought **was** the patient. "Room 332, third floor." she said in a kind of shock. "Thank you." He said, as he walked past her. As soon as he was out of sight, she picked up the phone and dialed. "Yes, I think I just saw the monster you guys were advertising on TV." She said into the phone.

Robert reached the room his brother was assigned, as he entered, he noticed a very odd smell. It wasn't a smell of death, nor was it a smell of active bodies, it was a kind of musty scent, like the scent James would always come home with after a week long adrenaline search. Looking to the bed, he noticed it was empty, but messed up. Turning to look to the other side of the room, he hoped to see his brother, awake and moving like he was, only to find a man with long silver hair facing away from him, drinking a glass of water. Slamming the paper cup down Sephiroth finally spoke, "I've been waiting for you to visit me…" turning around, Sephiroth gazed at Robert with those green evil eyes, yet there was an excitement to way they shined, "Cloud." Robert's eyes went wide as he saw the madman, and before he could react, Sephiroth grabbed him by the collar and yanked him into the room, then quietly shut the door. "Draw your sword, I want this to be fun." He said in a demanding tone. Robert Mako Shifted, but instead of the new sword, he saw the Buster sword in his hands. Passing it off as force of habit, he was blindsided when Sephiroth knocked him through the wall of the building. The pain of hitting the brick wall so hard, shot through him like a lightning bolt. Opening his eyes in pain, Robert found himself sailing towards the sidewalk, three stories down. Quickly he righted himself and landed awkwardly on his feet. Looking up to see his adversary, he saw as Sephiroth flew ever so gracefully out the gaping hole in the wall, and floated down to the ground. Robert righted himself and placed the Buster sword in front of him. "What did you do with my brother Sephiroth?" Robert asked. "Let's just say he's having the time of his life." Robert roared loudly in hatred, and swung the massive sword high in the air to chop Sephiroth in half. Sephiroth swing the Masamune above his head and parried Robert's strike to the left. Robert brought his sword back to his right in an attempt to sever Sephiroth but the silver man just jumped over it. Spinning upside down, Sephiroth swung his sword with all his might in Robert's direction. Robert quickly brought the Buster sword in front of him and blocked, but Sephiroth's strike was enough to bring him off of his feet. Robert collided with the wall of the building behind him, hard. "You bastard." He said before leaping into the air, and bringing his sword over his head. Sephiroth used one hand and the Masamune to block the strike, placing a familiar smirk on his face. "This is going in the record books for most exciting battle fought." Sephiroth said. "Only if you survive this you son of a…" Robert said and was interrupted when Sephiroth said, "Come on don't you have any faith?" Something in Robert's memories was triggered and he remembered when he and his brother were near the summit of what was known as the most impossible mountain to ski or snowboard down.

The helicopter propellers were the most prominent noise the two could hear, until James yelled, "This is going in the record books as the most incredible run ever." "If we survive that is." Robert yelled back. "Come on don't you have any faith?" James retorted before jumping out of the flying machine and down to the snow below. Only seconds later, Robert followed.

Robert's eyes opened wide in realization, "James?" he asked. The second those words left his mouth, Sephiroth pushed him away and started to de-shift himself. His silver hair shrank to be no longer that the back of his head and darkened to the same color as Robert's hair. Sephiroth shrank only a little to match Robert's exact height and his chin rounded slightly to mirror Roberts face. When he opened his eyes, they were glowing blue, just like Robert's Mako eyes. As guessed, the figure beneath the swordsman's form was in fact Robert's twin brother James. Robert flew through the air and flipped so his feet were beneath him before landing safely on his feet. When he looked up, he saw his worst fears come to life. James laughed with Sephiroth's voice backing him up. "Took you long enough." they said at the same time, sounding like an eerie echo. "What have you done?" Robert roared, and charged in again, bringing his sword down as hard as he could. When the two swords met, the sparks looked like lights of the Mako, and faded when the blades separated. Coming back across his right, Robert swung the Buster sword in an attempt to finish him off, but again was blocked by the Masamune, and again the sparks of Mako shot out. Sephiroth pushed with strength unheard of and literally lifted Robert off of the ground. Spinning in a circle and carrying the guard with him, he threw Robert into the air and away from him. Jumping towards him, Sephiroth took flight and followed as Robert kept soaring through the air.

Tiffa drove the car as everyone traveled home, Vincent, Yuffie and Cid all piled in the back with Red Thirteen curled up and sleeping on Cid's lap. Barret sat up front with Cait Sith purring in his lap and rubbing his head against the large man's arm. As Tiffa watched the road, she saw a shadow pass by on the street. Looking up to find out what it was, she was shocked to see her friend Robert fly across the sky with what looked to be another man in a black leather trench coat follow after him. "Well, looks like the shop will have to open up later." she said and stepped on the gas to follow as fast as she could.

Robert opened his eyes to see his adversary and twin brother on a collision course with him, bringing the buster sword up to block, he felt the Masamune collide with it from above sending him to the ground in the middle of a school's football field. Robert hit the ground so hard he created a short deep trench close to the fifty yard line. As he rose to his feet, sore and in pain, he noticed Sephiroth slowly touch ground, as if really flying. Sephiroth brought the Masamune up to his eyes as if trying to be epic, something James would definitely do. Robert simply brought the Buster sword over his head, and that was all he could do before he felt something wet hit him in the leg. Looking down he noticed Mako springing up from the ground and pooling in the trench he made on impact. "An underground Mako Pool?" Robert guessed, and the Mako began to erupt like a fountain of water soaking him. The Mako filled the trench to the brim and stopped, like it just wanted to help. Robert could feel the power of the Mako soaking into him, making him stronger, just like when he rescued his brother. Robert jumped out of the Mako pool keeping the Buster sword above his head, and came down on Sephiroth, Sephiroth in James body, brought the Masamune up to block, and the second the blades met, Mako sparks flew around them. However, Sephiroth found himself on his back. "Where did this strength come from?" he asked when Robert backed off. "There has to be a way to stop Sephiroth without killing my brother." Robert whispered to himself. When Sephiroth heard this, he smiled knowing that he would not be killed thanks to the body he possessed. He jumped to his feet and charged at the brown haired swordsman, only to get tackled from the side by a very large Samoan man. "Barret?" Robert asked. "Hey what's with you? You act like you're tired or something." Barret said. "Not really it's just…" he was never able to finish because a giant shurikan flew by his head strait at Sephiroth. "Cloud." He heard from behind him, "Are you ok?" Yuffie asked as she ran up to him. "I'm fine, it's just that…" "You really know how to find trouble don't you kid?" Cit said with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Everyone had Mako shifted into their battle ready selves. Suddenly Tiffa seemed to come out of nowhere and began throwing punches at Sephiroth, each one of them missing, when she attempted a kick, Sephiroth flew into the air and met up with Vincent. Vincent began shooting at the madman, and every shot took, was deflected by Sephiroth's Masamune. When Vincent descended from the sky, Red Thirteen appeared not as a fox cub, but rather a full grown wolf like creature with tribal tattoos and a flame at the tip of his tail. Sitting on his back, was what looked like a toy cat that stood on two feet and wore a crown, white cartoon gloves, brown pirate boots and a red blanket cape. In the toy cat's right hand was what looked to be a megaphone. Red Thirteen pounced on Sephiroth and just before the swordsman hit the ground, the toy cat screamed into the megaphone, creating a small sound wave that smacked Sephiroth right in the face, and the two jumped off to let him hit ground, right next to the new Mako Pool. They all landed around their friend in a kind of shield formation to keep him safe. "You're not an easy person to follow." Vincent said without looking at him. Before Robert could say anything, the toy cat spoke up in a familiar British accent, "You didn't really think we'd let you fight alone did you Cloud?" "Cait Sith?" he asked. "Aye, tiz me." he said in response. Shaking his head, he warned his friends, "Sephiroth is possessing James. We can't kill him." "What?" Yuffie asked for everyone. Nothing but shock could be seen on the faces of his friends as Robert looked at them individually, suddenly he spotted Sephiroth attempting to stand, and place his hand in the Mako Pool. For a second, Robert could see the black mist that made up Sephiroth clear up and mix with the Mako as it absorbed into his skin. Sephiroth pulled back quickly seeming like the Mako burned him or something. "I know how to save him." Robert said quickly, and weaved his way through his friends to advance on Sephiroth. "You guys get out of here now, leave the rest to me." he ordered. "Cloud I'm not leaving without you." Yuffie yelled. Robert turned to Vincent when he reached him, "Take care of Yuffie for me." he pleaded. Vincent simply nodded in response, grabbed Yuffie by the waist with his clawed arm and heaved her over his shoulder. "HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? PUT ME DOWN VINCENT! PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!" she screamed as he hauled her away. "You sure about this?" Barret asked as the others followed Vincent. "Absolutely." he said. Turning to Sephiroth after his friends left, he held the Buster sword to his side.

"LET ME GO, VINCENT! NOW!" Yuffie kept on yelling. It seemed like he wasn't listening, he just kept on walking. As she struggled she saw the school where her new husband was fighting get smaller and smaller. She just wouldn't let him go, she told herself he needed her, so Yuffie lifted her arm up across her face, and rammed her elbow into the back of Vincent's head as heard as she could. The blow to the head forced the red cloaked man to release his grip on her and immediately she escaped from his grasp as he brought his hands to his throbbing head. Yuffie ran as fast as she could towards the school, hopping she wouldn't be too late.

The Buster sword clashed with the Masamune once again and the two warriors gazed into each other's eyes with hatred. "You possessed my brother and several others, what gives you the right to do such a thing Sephiroth?" Robert screamed as he pushed against his opponent's sword. "Because I will rule this planet in my mother's stead, and it seems defeating you is the first step to my true destiny." Sephiroth said, using James' face to talk. "How much fun do you think you'll have," Robert asked as he pushed even harder against the madman, "once you do rule everything?" As he said that last part, he removed his left hand from the handle of the sword and planted his palm into Sephiroth's sternum. Sephiroth stumbled only a little and planted his back foot into the Mako Pool. As Robert predicted the Mako began slowly neutralizing the black mist of Sephiroth. Before Sephiroth could step out, Robert came back down with the Buster sword, forcing Sephiroth to block and stand his ground. Sephiroth pushed both swords to the right in an attempt to give himself some time to move, but Robert kept swinging every time the two swords separated making sure Sephiroth stayed in the green liquid. This dance of theirs continued for a few minutes before the two swords became deadlocked in a stalemate. Sephiroth brought the Masamune up above his head, Robert causing the Buster sword to follow after. Suddenly Sephiroth quick whipped his sword back the way it came, successfully throwing Robert's Buster sword away from him. The giant sword landed tip first near the edge of the fence close to a bush and a tree. Before Sephiroth could escape from the pain of the Mako as it seeped into his soul, Robert grabbed him by the collar of his coat with his right hand. Sephiroth lifted the Masamune above his head to finish his adversary off, but Robert quickly reeled back his left fist and punched the bottom of the handle as hard as he could, forcing the long katana from Sephiroth's hand. The Masamune flew towards the bleachers and fell hidden under a row of seats. The guard then grabbed Sephiroth by the collar with his left hand and the madman, grabbed Robert by the wrists in an attempt to free himself. "You think you can just do as you wish?" Robert asked as he literally picked Sephiroth up. As quickly as he left the ground, Sephiroth found himself submerged in the green liquid that caused him pain. As Robert brought His enemy up for air, he saw something strange, it looked like Sephiroth's black mist soul separated from his brother's body slightly, but only for a second. "You've lost." Robert said before he dunked the body back into the Mako. This time he let go with his right hand and soaked it in the Mako Pool, hoping with his entire being that his plan would work. As Sephiroth emerged from the green liquid, Robert grabbed the black mist while part of it was still submerged and held it there, literally tearing Sephiroth's black soul out of James' unconscious body. The moment the two were separated, Robert heard a familiar voice call to him, "Cloud, Cloud!" Looking up, he saw Yuffie running towards him. "Yuffie, take him and hide." He yelled as he hurled his brother at his wife. With as much grace as a ballerina, Yuffie caught James in mid air and yelled back when she landed, "What about you?" "I'm going to finish off Sephiroth, just get out of here." he called back. "I'm not leaving you." she pleaded with him. Robert gave her a smile, the smile she had come to love with every fiber of her being, "I'll be alright, trust me." he said. Yuffie bit her lip nervously, before nodding and lifting her brother-in-law up to run into the school building. Robert smiled in a kind of relaxed way before turning to the black soul in his clutches, to his surprise, Sephiroth was swelling up like a balloon and quickly. The evil soul was also writhing in pain. Moving his body so he could hold the head firmly under the green liquid, Robert held as tight as he could to what he could only guess was the hair. Within a minute, Sephiroth's soul had expanded to the size of a hot air balloon and the Mako from the pool was almost dry. Robert leapt into the air and placed his foot softly on the expanding soul. Using it as a trampoline, he jumped again as high as he could go, spun around so he was pointing down, and with a Mako soaked hand out in front of him, he plummeted towards the incarnation of evil.

Yuffie set James safely in the corner of one of the classrooms furthest away from the battle field, propped up against the wall. After assuring that he was safe enough, she attempted to run to help her husband in his battle, only to be stopped at the door by a massive explosion from outside. As soon as she heard the blast go off, she ducked and scooted towards the walls so she wouldn't be rained on by glass. When all was finally quiet, she attempted to stand and peeked through the shattered door window. Suddenly a groan could be heard from her left, and Yuffie turned to se James rubbing his head. "What happened?" he asked. "I'll tell you later, Right now I've got to check up on Cloud." She said as she opened the door and walked on through. "Hey, wait for me." James called after her as he stood up.

The field was in shambles, all that was left was a crater where the Mako use to be, and a hole where it ran under ground. "Cloud, Cloud?" Yuffie called out attempting to locate her husband, to no avail. While she searched what was left of the school field, James searched the bleachers, 'caus that's where I'd be' he thought to himself. Instead all he found was the Masamune hiding under one of the isle benches. "Oh, I like this sword." he said happily. Yuffie on the other hand kept searching for her lost husband; instead she found a spot in the ground near the fence where the Buster sword had landed, but no sword. She used this as a sign of hope, "You're out there somewhere Cloud, and I just know you're alive. I promise I won't stop until I find you." She said to the stab mark in the ground.

**THE END?**

There will be a sequel later on after after I'm done with my other stories. Till then please enjoy. Gotta mosey.**  
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